Nutritional aberration and related morphological disorders among patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in Ghana: A retrospective study.

Background: Metabolic and nutritional abnormalities among people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) have been reported due to either their HIV infection, primary malnutrition caused by insufficient intake or consequences of the ART regimen provided. This study investigated the prevalence and patterns of nutritional abnormalities including morphological changes among HIV patients under combination Antiretroviral Therapy (cART) in the Bia-West District of the Western North Region. Methods: We employed a hospital-based retrospective longitudinal design. Records of 180 patients with HIV infection before and after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation were extracted at the Essam Government Hospital. Eligibility criteria included being on treatment without change in regimen for at least one year and without defaulting in scheduled visits. Data extracted included patients' demography, nutritional parameters and medication history. We assessed patients' nutritional characteristics with the subjective global assessment (SGA) tool which includes five components of medical history (weight change, dietary intake, gastrointestinal symptoms, functional capacity & metabolic stress) and two components of physical examination (signs of fat loss and muscle wasting, alterations in fluid balance). Results: Malnutrition, lipodystrophy and body wasting among HIV patients were 48.3% (36.5-62.4), 43.9% (32.6-57.7) and 33.3% (23.6-46.0) respectively. Incremental percentage trends of malnutrition (stage I- 7.4%, stage II -22.4%, stage III-24.7%) and lipodystrophy (Stage I - 22.2%, Stage II - 48.7%, Stage III - 51.9%) were significantly associated with worsening disease status. Patients on AZT+3TC + NVP combined regimen presented with the highest malnutrition [52.9% (28.5-76.1)], lipodystrophy [64.7% (38.6-84.7)] and loss of muscle mass [47.1% (23.9-71.5)]. Long-term ART use was significantly associated with high malnutrition rate (p= 0.02620) and increasing muscle mass loss (p = 0.0040). Conclusion: High malnutrition, lipodystrophy and muscle wasting exist in PLHIV on cART in the Bia-West District. These adverse nutritional effects may be modulated by disease severity, ARV medication and duration.

EFFECT OF ADDITIONAL ACUTE IRRADIATION ON CYTOMORPHOLOGICAL ABNORMALITIES OF ERYTHROCYTES OF THE PRUSSIAN CARP (CARASSIUS GIBELIO BLOCH) FROM WATER BODY CONTAMINATED WITH RADIONUCLIDES. / VPLYV DODATKOVOGO GOSTROGO OPROMINENNIa NA TsYTOMORFOLOGIChNI PORUShENNIa ERYTROTsYTIV KARASIa SRIBLIaSTOGO (CARASSIUS GIBELIO BLOCH) IZ ZABRUDNENOÏ RADIONUKLIDAMY VODOY̆MY.

OBJECTIVE: Assessment of the effect of additional acute irradiation (AAI) in sub-lethal range on the peculiarities of formation of qualitative composition of red blood and adaptive possibilities of the hematopoietic system of fish in reservoirs within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ), contaminated with radionuclides. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied the Prussian carp Carassius gibelio Bloch (2-3 years old) from Vershyna Lake (impacted reservoir in the CEZ) and Dibrova Lake (reference reservoir), where the average absorbed dose rate (ADR) was, respectively, 110.80 and 0.07 µGy/h. The fish were exposed by a single X-ray dose at the unit RUM-17 (ADR - 0.89 Gy/min) at dose of 2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 Gy. Morphological and cytogenetic studies of red blood cells were per- formed dynamically for the 1st, 7th and 30th day after irradiation. The blood was taken from the tail vein and stained by Pappenheim's method. Cytomorphological abnormalities of erythrocytes were analyzed for 3000 cells (‰). RESULTS: In blood of fish from the impacted reservoir (Vershyna Lake) on the 1st day after AAI, the average number of all types of deformations of erythrocytes cells increased in 2.1 times, and in fish of the reference reservoir (Dibrova Lake) - in 5.2 times. General spectrum of erythrocyte disturbances in fish of Vershyna Lake has increased from 4 to 6 types (in 1.5 times), and Dibrova Lake - from 2 to 5 types (in 2.5 times). However, further observations of the dynamics of morphological disorders of fish's blood cells from Vershyna Lake on the 7th and the 30th day after AAI showed a significant increase in pathological processes in comparison with the reference reservoir, namely - an increase in the number of gross damage of DNA molecules - amitosis (on average in 14.8 times), erythrocytes with septum in the nucleus (in 1.9 times), as well as structural disorders in the cells - protuberances (in 10.5 times), cells with vacuolate cytoplasm (in 8.6 times). CONCLUSIONS: The red blood cells of the fish of the impacted reservoir show a greater vulnerability to AAI, which manifests itself in an increase in the number of erythrocytes with pathology of mitosis and may indicate a violation of the genetic structures of cells due to long-term radiation exposure.

Using Time Lapse Monitoring for Determination of Morphological Defect Frequency in Feline Embryos after In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).

Some human, bovine, and mouse in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos with morphokinetic abnormalities such as fragmentation, direct cleavage, and cytoplasmic vacuoles have the potential to reach the blastocyst stage, which is related to a high potential for implantation. The latest techniques of embryo development observation to enable the evaluation and selection of embryos are based on time lapse monitoring (TLM). The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of morphological defects in feline embryos, their competence to reach the blastocyst stage, and their ability to hatch. Oocyte-cumulus complexes were isolated after the scarification of ovaries and matured in vitro. Matured oocytes were fertilized in vitro by capacitated spermatozoa. Randomly selected oocytes were observed by TLM for seven-to-eight days. Out of 76 developed embryos, 41 were morphologically normal, of which 15 reached the blastocyst stage. Of 35 abnormally developed embryos, 17 reached the blastocyst stage, of which six had single aberrations and 11 had multiple aberrations. The hatching rate (%) was 15.6% in normally cleaving embryos, 6.25% in embryos with single aberrations, and 3.33% in those with multiple aberrations. The present study reports the first results, found by using TLM, about the frequency of the morphological defects of feline embryos, their competence to reach the blastocyst stage, and their ability to hatch.

In vitro propagation of lemon verbena: a plant native of South America

In vitropropagation increases the supply and commercialisation of products of interest. For this, optimising the growing conditions and the composition of the culture medium is crucial to benefit the full development of the plants. Thus, the objective was to evaluate the in vitropropagation of Aloysia triphyllaon different culture media, with varying agar and sucrose concentrations. The experiment was conducted as a completely randomised design, 3×3×3 factorial scheme, with three culture media (MS, JADS and WPM), three sucrose concentrations (8, 10 and 12 g L-1) and three agar concentrations (15, 30 and 45 g L-1), with three replicates each and experimental units composed of one plant per replicate. After 25 days of cultivation, the fresh and dry mass of the plants, numbers of leaves, numbers of nodes, plant lengths, numbers of oxidised leaves, hyperhydricity and acclimatization percentages were evaluated. The WPM medium resulted in a reduced fresh mass, reflecting in the low hyperhydricity observed in the explants, and favoured the acclimatization of the plants. Thus, the WPM medium with sucrose (15 g L-1) and agar (12 g L-1) is recommended as the medium most suitable for the in vitroregeneration of Aloysia triphylla.