Early-induced diabetic obese rat MACAPOS 2.

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease characterized by an abnormally high blood glucose level. Glucose intolerance and insulin resistance are two characteristics that promote the onset and development of type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to create a diabetic rat model from obese rat MACAPOS 2. METHODS: A group of rats was subjected to a high-fat diet (HFD) compared to a control group (NC) which received a normal diet. After 16 weeks of HFD, Lee index was calculated, obese rats were subjected to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and insulin tolerance test (ITT). One group of HFD rats (HFDZ) received streptozotocin 22.5 mg/kg (iv). One week later, weight gain, water and food intakes, urine volume and fasting blood glucose levels were evaluated. Animals were also subjected to glucose tolerance and insulin tolerance tests. RESULTS: After 16 weeks of HFD, rats became obese, glucose intolerant and resistant to insulin. The body weight of rats was significantly high (+ 26.23%) compared to normal rats, glycemia remained significantly high (+ 45.46%, P < 0.01) two hours after administration of glucose in high-fat diet rats, water intake and urine volume were comparable to those of NC. In HFD, the streptozotocin injected after one week (HFDZ), amplified glucose intolerance. During ITT, glycemia remained significantly (P < 0.01) high from 15 min; and did not vary during the 60 min of ITT. The fasting glycemia one week after streptozotocin injection was significantly high (288 mg/dL) compared to HFD (114 mg/dL), associated whit a significant (P < 0.01) increase in water intake and 24 h urine volume. CONCLUSION: These results showed that MACAPOS 2 associated with a low dose of streptozotocin (22.5 mg/dL) early leads to the diabetes in obese albinos Wistar rats and could be a real model to study the type 2 diabetes mellitus.

[Primary tuberculosis of the cavum: An unusual diagnosis]. / Tuberculose primitive du cavum : un diagnostic peu commun.

Primary tuberculosis of the cavum is a rare entity. It can occur at any age, especially between the second and ninth decade. We report the case of a 17-years-old patient with nasal obstruction and left laterocervical adenomegaly. A cervico-facial CT scan showed a suspicious looking tumor process of the nasopharynx. Histological analysis of the biopsies taken showed chronic granulomatous inflammation with necrosis and the absence of tuberculosis lesions in the usual sites, especially the lungs, led to the diagnosis of primary tuberculosis of the cavum. There was a good evolution on antituberculosis drugs. This unusual location can be a source of difficulties and delay in diagnosis, especially because of the clinical presentation, which suggests a nasopharyngeal tumour. In developing countries, where this disease remains relatively endemic, cross-sectional imaging techniques and histopathological analysis are of great interest for the management of patients.

Identifying Potential Mutations Responsible for Cases of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a progressive and devastating disease for which there is an escalating body of genetic and related pathophysiological information on disease pathobiology. Nevertheless, the success to date in identifying susceptibility genes, genetic variants and epigenetic processes has been limited due to PAH clinical multi-faceted variations. A number of germline gene candidates have been proposed but demonstrating consistently the association with PAH has been problematic, at least partly due to the reduced penetrance and variable expressivity. Although the data for bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (BMPR2) and related genes remains undoubtedly the most extensive, recent advanced gene sequencing technologies have facilitated the discovery of further gene candidates with mutations among those with and without familial forms of PAH. An in depth understanding of the multitude of biologic variations associated with PAH may provide novel opportunities for therapeutic intervention in the coming years. This knowledge will irrevocably provide the opportunity for improved patient and family counseling as well as improved PAH diagnosis, risk assessment, and personalized treatment.

Effect of the Hydroethanolic Extract of Bixa orellana Linn (Bixaceae) Leaves on Castor Oil-Induced Diarrhea in Swiss Albino Mice.

OBJECTIVE: The treatment of diarrheal diseases is a serious problem in developing countries, where population generally uses medicinal plants. The leaves of Bixa orellana have been reported to be traditionally used in the treatment of diarrhea by local people in the district of Khulna in Bangladesh. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the hydroethanolic extract of Bixa orellana leaves on castor oil-induced diarrhea in mice. METHODS: The powder of the leaves of Bixa orellana was macerated in ethanol/water mixture (20/80) for 48 hours and then filtered. The filtrate obtained was lyophilized, and the solutions to be administered to the animals were prepared. To induce diarrhea, animals orally received castor oil (1 mL/100 g bw). To determine the effective doses, each mouse received, 30 minutes after the administration of castor oil, one of the single oral doses of hydroethanolic extract of Bixa orellana leaves: 0, 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg bw. The mass, number, and frequency of stool diarrhea were measured and recorded per hour for five hours. The effect of the hydroethanolic extract of Bixa orellana leaves on the intestinal transit was evaluated by measuring the distance traveled by the charcoal meal in thirty minutes. The effects of the aqueous extract of hydroethanolic extract of Bixa orellana leaves on intestinal secretion were evaluated by measuring the volume of the intestinal content and by dosing the electrolytes (Na+, K+, and Cl-) in the intestinal content by the colorimetric method. RESULTS: The extract produced significant (P < 0.01) decreases, respectively, 35.52%, 54.47%, 74.80%, and 87.80% in the severity of diarrhea. The extract at 100 and 200 mg/kg bw showed a significant (P < 0.01) decrease of castor oil-induced enteropooling (61.08% and 65.41%), and only the 200 mg/kg bw exhibited significant (P < 0.01) reduction on intestinal transit (24.46%) as compared to standard drug. CONCLUSIONS: The hydroethanolic extract was found to be effective against castor oil-induced diarrhea in experimental mice at 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg bw which provides evidence that could justify its traditional use.

Body composition of Cameroonian lactating women determined by anthropometry, bioelectrical impedance, and deuterium dilution.

OBJECTIVE: This study compared body composition estimates using deuterium dilution, multiple-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and skinfold thickness techniques in a group of Cameroonian lactating women. METHODS: Body fat, fat-free mass, and total body water in 44 Cameroonian lactating women (2.63 ± 1.31 mo postpartum) were assessed by deuterium dilution, the Siri or black-specific derived Durnin-Womerley equation, and 12 BIA-prediction equations developed in samples of subjects of white, black, black-and-white, or unspecified racial background, respectively. RESULTS: Compared with deuterium dilution, anthropometry and BIA-based predictive equations overestimated body fat by 2.7 to 11.7 kg; thus, fat-free mass and total body water were underestimated. In all cases, the significant biases resulted in large 95% limits of agreement, yielding unacceptable potential bias at the level of the individual. However, the exclusion of suprailiac skinfold in the calculation, yielding to non-significant (P < 0.05) bias, improved the prediction of body composition in Cameroonian lactating women using the Durnin-Womersley and Siri equations. CONCLUSION: It is essential to adjust the Durnin-Womersley equation before using it in the Siri equation for the prediction of body composition in lactating women. Further development and cross-validation of prediction equations from BIA specific to lactating women is needed.

Evidence for a multiclonal origin of multicentric advanced lesions of Kaposi sarcoma.

BACKGROUND: Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a complex tumor of uncertain clonality. Studying the viral clonality of the human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) in KS to determine clonality of the tumors, a strategy that has been used previously with Epstein-Barr virus and its associated tumors, may elucidate whether multicentric (disseminated) KS lesions correspond to metastatic lesions or to expansions of independent clones. METHODS: A series of 139 KS biopsies (from skin, lymph node, or tonsil) was obtained from 98 patients, with 59 biopsies from 18 patients with disseminated multicentric KS skin lesions. The degree of spindle cell infiltration in biopsies was established by direct observation of hematoxylin-eosin-stained sections, and HHV-8 viral load was quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction. To determine cellular clonality, the size heterogeneity of the HHV-8-fused terminal repeat (TR) region was determined by probing of electrophoresed restricted genomic DNA from KS biopsies for the HHV-8 TR sequence. RESULTS: HHV-8 clonality analysis was performed on the 62 samples for which sufficient DNA was obtained. Most samples corresponded to histologically nodular lesions with high spindle cell infiltration and high viral load. A clonal HHV-8 pattern was determined for 59 samples; 11 were found to be monoclonal and 48 to be oligoclonal. The informative samples that were from disseminated KS skin lesions (n = 26, from six patients) were either monoclonal or oligoclonal, and the size of HHV-8 episomes varied between these samples. CONCLUSION: Although some tumor KS lesions were monoclonal expansions of HHV-8-infected spindle cells, most advanced lesions were oligoclonal proliferations. Furthermore, individual KS disseminated tumor skin lesions were found to represent distinct expansions of HHV-8-infected spindle cells. Thus, our results suggest that KS lesions, especially in patients with advanced skin tumors, are reactive proliferations rather than true malignancies with metastatic dissemination.