Effects of sage extract on memory performance in mice and acetylcholinesterase activity.

INTRODUCTION: Salvia officinalis L. (sage) has been widely used in the Tunisian traditional medicine for the treatment of digestive system and memory disorders. OBJECTIVES: This work aims to investigate the anti-amnesiac and antioxidant activity of aqueous extract of S. officinalis (ASOE) in mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Evaluation of memory functions in rodents was assessed by Y-maze active test after an initial acquisition phase. RESULTS: Results showed that the S. officinalis aqueous extract had high total phenolic contents (6.2mg gallic E/g extract) and flavonoids (2.44mg catechin E/g extract). It exhibited an interesting scavenging activity (IC50=14.5µg/ml). The mice treated with 300mg/kg body weight for 7 days exhibited a significant decrease in avoidance and discrimination errors during a retention trial compared to control group (P<0.05). Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity significantly decreased in mice treated with the extract of sage. CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that aqueous extract of sage leaves possess a mnemonic effect on adult male mice, confirming their use in traditional medicine.

[Diagnosis and treatment of prostatitis: a case report]. / Diagnostic et traitement de prostatite aiguë : à propos d'un cas.

Prostate specific antigen (PSA) is the test of first line in mass screening program of prostate cancer. However the increase of its level can be seen in other affections of this gland (banal hypertrophy, acute prostatitis...). We report the case of 53 year's old patient presenting with urinary symptoms combined with pelvises pains due to acute prostatitis. The follow up of PSA level has shown an initial pick which regresses progressively until the normalisation after an effective antibiotherapy, with complete disappearance of the clinical symptoms.

Platelet-specific alloantigens and antibodies in Tunisian women after three or more pregnancies.

Pregnancy may allow alloimmunization against human platelet antigens (HPA), which can lead to neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT). The specificities of alloantibodies are closely related to the distribution of the HPA systems. A total of 281 Tunisian multiparous women (mean number of pregnancies: 4.5) were phenotyped for the HPA-1, -3 and -5 systems, by monoclonal antibody immobilization of platelet antigens (MAIPA). We searched for antibodies against HPA-1a, HPA-3a, HPA-5b and HPA-5a in HPA-1b1b, HPA-3b3b, HPA-5a5a and HPA-5b5b individuals, respectively. The gene frequencies were: 0.83 for HPA-1a, 0.17 for HPA-1b, 0.78 for HPA-3a, 0.22 for HPA-3b, 0.82 for HPA-5a and 0.18 for HPA-5b. Anti-HPA-5b antibodies were present in eight sera and anti-HPA-3a antibodies were present in one serum. The anti-HPA-5b system is the most frequently involved in platelet alloimmunization in Tunisian multiparous women. However, prospective trials are required to confirm this result and to determine the exact frequencies and clinical relevance of platelet alloantibodies in pregnant Tunisian women.

[Hypocholesterolemia and celiac disease: about one case]. / Hypocholestérolémie et maladie coeliaque : à propos d'un cas.

Hypocholesterolemia is a biochemical abnormality that often does not have much interest for clinicians. However its frequency varies from 2 to 5% according to the studied populations and can reveal a severe disease (cancer, sareopenia, malabsorption...). We report the observation of Miss HY, 17 year old, in whom the biological association of a hypocholesterolemie state with ferriprive anaemia revealed a celiac disease. Diagnosis was confirmed by the anatomopathologic examination and analysis of both anti-gliadine and anti-endomysium antibodies. The introduction of a strict diet without gluten allowed normalization of the biological parameters and the improvement of clinical symptomatology.

[Interest of CSF beta-amyloid1-42 and t-tau protein level determinations for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease]. / Intérêt du dosage de la protéine amyloïde Abeta1-42 et de la protéine tau dans le LCR pour le diagnostic de la maladie d'Alzheimer : une étude tunisienne.

Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease remains a tactful poser. In order to clarify the importance of beta amyloid protein dosage (Abeta1-42) and protein tau (t-tau) in such pathology, we have rigorously studied three well recruited populations that match in age: healthy controls (n = 32), Alzheimer patients (n = 87) and non Alzheimer dementia (n = 31) patients. The combination of Abeta1-42 and t-tau at baseline yielded a sensitivity of 85.29 % for detection of Alzheimer's disease and the specificity was by 96.77 % to differentiate controls. So the combination of these tow markers helps in the diagnosis of Alzheimer because of the high specificity and sensibility of this method.

[Diagnostic value of serum and pleural fluid adenosine deaminase activity in tuberculous pleurisy]. / Valeur diagnostique de l'activité de l'adénosine désaminase pleurale et sérique dans la pleurésie tuberculeuse.

The biological diagnosis of tuberculous pleurisy poses the problem of the time required to obtain results and of the sensitivity of the usual diagnostic methods. The determination of adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity has been proposed for the diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion and for the follow-up. In the present study, ADA in pleural effusion (p-ADA) and in serum (s-ADA) has been measured in 2 groups of patients: tuberculosis (27) and non-tuberculosis (53) patients. The upper limit of the normal values was fixed at 37 U/L. Comparing these 2 groups, we observed a specificity of 81.2% and a sensitivity of 66.6%. The PPV and the NPV were respectively 64.3% and 82.7%. We used p-ADA/s-ADA ratio for diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion, a threshold value of 1.8 gave a sensitivity of 82.6% and a specificity of 84.8%. Within the tuberculosis patient group, the activity of ADA decreased after the appropriate treatment initiation. Thus, the determination of ADA activity and/ or the p-ADA/s-ADA ratio, can help to recognize the tuberculosis origin of pleural effusions.

[Epidemiology of hydatidosis in the Tunisian Sahel and central Tunisia]. / Epidémiologie de l'hydatidose dans le Sahel et le centre tunisiens.

Hydatidosis is very common in the Sahel and Central Tunisia. The 1984 annual surgical incidence rate of hydatid disease is 21.89 per one hundred thousand. Prevalence rates vary from 0.36 to 1.3%. Animal infestation is also common.