Zinc in CSF of patients with febrile convulsion.

OBJECTIVE: This prospective study was carried out from July-December 1999 to see the status of zinc in CSF of children with febrile convulsion and to compare this to that of control. METHODS: Forty-two cases of febrile convulsion and 30 controls (fever without convulsion) were enrolled into the study. CSF zinc was estimated by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) in Atomic Energy Center, Dhaka and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The mean zinc level in CSF in the study sample was 40.19mgm/L and that in control was 74.98mgm/L. This difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The study concludes that a significantly lower of zinc exists in CSF of children with febrile. However no relationship was found between CSF zinc status with age, sex, degree & duration of fever and time of lumbar puncture after convulsion.

Multielement proton-induced X-ray emission analysis of betel leaves, betel nuts, and lime.

Proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) method was employed to study the concentration of heavy elements in betel leaves, betel nuts, and mineral lime consumed in Bangladesh. The samples were collected from different parts of Bangladesh and analyzed by the thicktarget external beam technique of the PIXE method. The samples were exposed to the proton beam as 1-mm thick pellets and irradiated with 2.0-MeV protons having 20-nA beam intensity. The concentration of some 15 elements (K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, and Pb) was measured by comparison with a calibration curve constructed from the NBS orchard leaf standard SRM 1571. The validity of the procedure has been established by comparative measurements of Cu and Zn with atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The significance of the results is discussed in view of their implications in health and disease.