Total Antioxidant Status in Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Palestine.

The objective of this study was to compare the level of total antioxidant status (TAS) in type 2 diabetic and normal Palestinian subjects as well as the major factors influencing TAS levels. A sample of convenience composed of 212 type 2 diabetic and 208 normal subjects above the age of 40 were recruited. Only 9.8% of the subjects had normal body mass index (BMI) levels (<25), 29% were overweight (≥25 to <30), and 61.2% were obese (≥30). The mean levels of TAS were significantly higher in diabetic compared to control subjects (2.18 versus 1.84 mM Trolox, P = 0.001) and in hypertensive subjects compared to subjects with normal blood pressure (BP). Mean TAS levels were higher in obese compared to nonobese subjects (2.12 versus 1.85 mM Trolox, P = 0.001). Mean TAS levels were similarly higher in subjects with high fasting plasma glucose (FPG) compared to normal FPG (2.19 versus 1.90 mM Trolox) and high HbA1c (≥6.5%) compared to HbA1c < 6.5% (2.14 versus 1.91 mM Trolox). Multivariate analysis revealed that only diabetic status (P = 0.032) and the level of education (P = 0.036) were significantly associated with TAS. In conclusion diabetic patients had 18.5% increase in TAS levels compared to control subjects.

Palestinian infantile visceral leishmaniasis caused by a genetic variant of Leishmania infantum belonging to a new zymodeme.

The parasites causing a Palestinian case of infantile visceral leishmaniasis (IVL) and those from four dogs from the Jenin District were identified serologically, biochemically and molecular biologically as Leishmania infantum, showing dogs act as a reservoir. The strain from the human case was distinct because of its unique 200-bp kDNA-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) component in its restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) profile after digestion with the endonuclease RsaI, and by the electrophoretic mobility of its malate dehydrogenase (MDH(140)), designating it the reference strain of a new zymodeme of L. infantum, MON-281.

Epidemiology of visceral leishmaniasis in the Jenin District, West Bank: 1989-1998.

Fifty patients from rural areas in the Jenin district of the West Bank, Palestinian Authority, were diagnosed with visceral leishmaniasis (VL) between 1989 and 1998. Forty-nine (98%) were younger than 6 years old, the youngest being 9 months. The yearly incident rate of VL in the Jenin district was highest in 1994 (11.8/100,000) and decreased to 1.5/100,000 in 1998; a mortality rate of 4% was recorded. Seventeen (5.5%) of 308 dogs from the Jenin and Ramallah districts of the West Bank were seropositive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in a survey of canine leishmaniasis. Although all the leishmanial strains cultured from humans and dogs were identified as Leishmania infantum by a species-specific polymerase chain reaction, further genetic analysis by restriction fragment length polymorphism of kinetoplast DNA revealed patterns of polymorphism within isolates. The findings indicate that an active focus of potentially fatal VL exits in the Jenin district of the West Bank and that the parasite, vector, and reservoir host are found in this area. The epidemiology of VL in that vicinity follows the pattern of a predominantly infantile disease traditionally found in Middle Eastern countries, without a considerable involvement of immunocompromised adults infected with HIV virus as reported in other regions.