Food intake and high density lipoprotein cholesterol levels changes during ramadan fasting in healthy young subjects.

During the holy month of Ramadan, it is obligatory for all adult healthy Muslims to abstain from food, drink and smoking each day from dawn to sunset. The aims of our study were to evaluate the effects of Ramadan fasting on plasma lipids, lipoproteins and the change of food consumption in healthy subjects. Thirty young healthy and normal weighted adults (9 males and 21 females) were evaluated during three periods: 3 weeks before Ramadan (T0); the 4th week of Ramadan (T1) and 3 weeks after the end of Ramadan (T2). Main Clinical and biological parameters investigated were: body weight, blood glucose, plasma triglycerides (TG), plasma total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and. low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) Body weight, and blood glucose were unchanged. There was a significant increase of the mean daily caloric intake, the lipids intake particularly mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fatty acids (p < 0.001) and cholesterol intake (p < 0.001) during Ramadan with a decrease of the meal frequency. There was also a significant increase of plasma total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol. The most striking finding was a significant increase in the HDL-Cholesterol during Ramadan +20% (p < 0.02). This increase was lost after Ramadan. Fasting Ramadan affects beneficially serum lipoprotein metabolism in young adult healthy subjects with an increase of HDL-cholesterol.

[Hypothalamic-pituitary Langerhans cell histiocytosis in adults]. / Atteinte hypothalamo-hypophysaire dans l'histiocytose de l'adulte.

INTRODUCTION: Langerhans cell histiocytosis is a rare entity. Involvement of the pituitary region is frequently delayed and rarely studied. CASES: We report some clinical and paraclinical particularities of the disease in four women. Diabetes insipidus was the initial symptom in all cases, accompanied by panhypopituitarism at initial presentation in one woman. Hypopituitarism was diagnosed from 6 months to 4 years after the diabetes insipidus in the other cases, and systemic lesions appeared 3 to 6 years thereafter. Magnetic resonance imaging of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis found tumors in two patients and infundibular thickening in the other two. One patient also had a partially empty sella. DISCUSSION: In adults, pituitary involvement seems to occur predominantly in women, and panhypopituitarism is possible at initial presentation. The clinical polymorphism of Langerhans cell histiocytosis makes this disease difficult and often slow to diagnose.