Coronary angiographic findings in dilated cardiomyopathy in a sub-Saharan African population.

AIM: To describe the coronary angiographic aspects observed in patients with dilated cardiomyopathies (DCM) in a sub-Saharan African country in order to improve their management. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from 1 January 2010 to 31 March 2016. All patients aged 18 years and older, presenting with DCM and admitted to Abidjan Heart Institute, who underwent coronary angiography were included. One hundred and eight patients were selected. We analysed and compared the coronary angiographic features observed. RESULTS: The median age of our patients was 52 years (46-61). There was a male predominance (sex ratio = 3). Hypertension (53.7%) was the major cardiovascular risk factor found. Coronary angiography was abnormal in 37 patients (34.3%). Twenty-three patients (21.3%) had obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Patients with CAD were older than those with normal coronary arteries, but with no statistically significant difference (p = 0.06). Hypertension (p < 0.001) and diabetes (p = 0.0003) were statistically significantly more commonly reported in patients with CAD. CONCLUSIONS: Ischaemic heart disease is likely to be underdiagnosed in sub-Saharan Africa. A coronary angiographic assessment of patients receiving treatment for DCM, especially in the presence of cardiovascular risk factors, should help optimise their management and improve prognosis.

Influence of high ovarian hormones on QT interval duration in young African women.

Abstract The longer QT interval duration observed in women compared to men is usually attributed to sexual hormones. The aim of our study was to investigate, among black African women, the influence of hormonal variations during the menstrual cycle on the duration of the QT interval. Fourteen young black African women, healthy, sedentary, aged 24 ± 1.7 years, with a regular menstrual cycle (28 ± 1 days) were selected from 59 volunteers. At each phase of their menstrual cycle, menstrual 2.9 ± 0.6 days, follicular 13 ± 1.5 days, and luteal 23.1 ± 1.4 days, an electrocardiogram was performed in supine position after a resting period of 30 min, to measure QT interval duration. QT interval was corrected by Bazett's (QTcb) and Fridericia's (QTcf) formulae. Then, blood samples were obtained to measure estradiol, progesterone, and serum electrolytes (K(+), Ca(2+), Mg(2+)). There was no significant difference in uncorrected QT intervals between the three phases of the menstrual cycle. It was the same for QTcb and QTcf. Moreover, during the menstrual cycle, we did not observe any correlation between each QT, QTcb, QTcf, and estradiol levels which raised during the follicular phase (356.61 ± 160.77 pg/mL) and progesterone levels which raised during the luteal phase (16.38 ± 5.88 ng/mL). Finally, the method of Bland and Altman demonstrated that the corrections of QT by Bazett and Fridericia formulae were not interchangeable. The results of this study showed that high levels of estradiol and progesterone in young black African women did not influence the QT, QTcb and QTcf intervals duration during the menstrual cycle.

[Fattening diet and metabolic syndrome in Ivory Coast]. / Régime d'engraissement et syndrome métabolique en Côte d'Ivoire.

Metabolic syndrome is a particular state of morbidity characterized by the association of several factors contributing to the increase in the cardiovascular risk. This constellation of factors associates the glucose intolerance and its corollary the hyperglycemia, the overweight, the hypertriglyceridemia, the fall of the HDL-cholesterol and arterial hypertension. In Africa, it is difficult to evaluate in the actual prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. The present study aims was to determine the prediction and prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in a group of nurse--lactating mothers--in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), who were submitted at a particularly rich food lipids. Our populations were composed to 100 lactating women, and we used the definition of « National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III ¼. The results obtained showed that the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is 7%, and 30% of them are presented an abdominal obesity. Our populations were composed to 100 lactating women, which belong to the Ethie where the habit are to eat, after giving birth, high foods lipids for 6 months. We used the definition of "National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III" to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in this population and see if the diet has a negative influence. The results obtained showed that the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is 7%, and 30% of them are presented an abdominal obesity. The risk to develop a metabolic syndrome in this specific population of nurse is particularly big and it's linked to their eating habits.

[Apolipoprotein(a) isoforms immunoblotting detection: comparative study of two methods]. / Immunorévélation des isoformes d'apolipoprotéine(a) : étude comparée de deux méthodes.

This study reports the comparison between two methods (chemiluminescence and enzymatic colorimetry) for revelation of apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)] isoforms by immunoblotting in 102 Ivorian healthy subjects. Apo(a) isoform sizes were determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-agarose-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) followed by immunoblotting using enzymatic colorimetry or chemiluminescence. Within-run precision was comprised between 4.9% and 9.2% for colorimetry and between 2.9% and 4.6% for chemiluminescence. Both methods have detected apo(a) isoforms in all patients, even when lipoprotein(a) concentrations were under detection limit (0.02 g/L). The two methods were significantly correlated (r = 0.96 to 0.98, p<0.0001). Even though the chemiluminescence method exhibited better performances than the colorimetric method, both techniques could be used indifferently.

Effect of a bis-thiazolium compound on the biosynthesis of Plasmodium falciparum phospholipids.

In the eukaryotic cell, phospholipids can be biosynthesized by two pathways, one from choline and the other one from ethanolamine. The functional effectiveness of each pathway depends on the type of the cell. Thiazolium designed-drugs have shown, under in vivo conditions, antiplasmodial and antimalarial activities with inhibition of the phospholipids biosynthesis. This study aimed to discover the pathways involved in the biosynthesis of phospholipids in Plasmodium and deduce the biochemical steps inhibited by T4, a bis-thiazolium bromide drug. We compared the uptake of radiolabeled precursors and their selective incorporation in the phospholipids of cultured Plasmodium-infected and -uninfected erythrocytes which revealed that phosphatidylcholine of Plasmodium is synthesized both from choline and ethanolamine (4.7 vs 1.9 nmol/10(10) cells x h(-1)). T4 has no effect on the biosynthesis of phosphatidylethanolamine but T4 inhibited, in a selective way, the in vitro uptake of choline. However no enzymes in the biosynthesis of phospholipids seem to be inhibited by T4 but rather an inhibition of choline entry into the parasite.