Infants of diabetic mothers. A cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the outcome of infants born to diabetic mothers at Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and compare the complications seen in these infants with infants of non-diabetic mothers. METHODS: This is a concurrent prospective cohort study of a population of newborn infants delivered at Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for diabetic mothers between January 2011 and November 2011. RESULTS: A total of 601 infants were enrolled in the study consisting of 319 infants of non-diabetic mothers, and 282 infants of diabetic mothers. Infants of diabetic mothers showed significantly higher rates of associated complications and prolonged hospital stay reflected in their admission to the neonatal intensive care when compared with infants of non-diabetic mothers. There was no difference in rate of complications between infants of gestational diabetics and pre-gestational diabetics. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that diabetic pregnancies are associated with an increased incidence of neonatal complications. These seem to be related to the degree of maternal glycemic control. The higher rates of complications among our infants of diabetic mothers, particularly major congenital malformations call for those involved in the care of diabetic mothers to consolidate their efforts to facilitate early booking in specialist clinics.

Potential of siderophore production by bacteria isolated from heavy metal: polluted and rhizosphere soils.

Recently, heavy metals have been shown to have a stimulating effect on siderophore biosynthesis in various bacteria. In addition, several studies have found that siderophore production is greater in bacteria isolated from soil near plant roots. The aim of this study was to compare the production of siderophores by bacterial strains isolated from heavy metal-contaminated and uncontaminated soils. Chrome azurol sulphonate was used to detect siderophore secretion by several bacterial strains isolated from heavy metal-contaminated and rhizosphere-uncontaminated soils with both a qualitative disc diffusion method and a quantitative ultraviolet spectrophotometric method. Siderophore production by rhizosphere bacteria was significantly greater than by bacteria isolated from contaminated soil. The Pearson's correlation test indicated a positive correlation between the amount of siderophore produced by bacteria isolated from the rhizosphere using the quantitative and qualitative detection methods and the amount of heavy metal in the soil. However, a significant negative correlation was observed between the amount of siderophore produced by bacteria isolated from heavy metal-contaminated soil and the amount of heavy metal (r value of -0.775, P < 0.001).

Potential capacity of Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae in the biosorption of Cd2+ and Pb2+.

In this study Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae were used as inexpensive and efficient biosorbents for Pb(II) and Cd(II) from aqueous metal solutions. The effects of various physicochemical factors on Pb(II) and Cd(II) biosorption by B. bassiana and M. anisopliae were studied. The optimum pH for Cd(II) and Pb(II) biosorption by two fungal species was achieved at pH 6.0 for Pb(II) and 5.0 Cd(II) at a constant time of 30 min. The nature of fungal biomass and metal ion interactions was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared. The maximum adsorption capacities (q(max)) calculated from Langmuir isotherms for Pb(II), and Cd(II) uptake by B. bassiana were 83.33±0.85, and 46.27±0.12 mg/g, respectively. However, the q(max) obtained for Pb(II) uptake by M. anisopliae was 66.66±0.28 mg/g, and 44.22±0.13 mg/g for Cd(II). B. bassiana showed higher adsorption capacity compared to M. anisopliae. The data obtained imply the potential role of B. bassiana and M. anisopliae for heavy metal removal from aqueous solutions.

Flow cytometric ploidy analysis of testicular biopsies from sperm-negative wet preparations.

BACKGROUND: The use of testicular sperm in assisted reproduction depends on the availability of sperm in wet preparations. It is not always possible to recover sperm from the testis, even with previous sperm-positive histopathological findings. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sperm-negative wet preparation search results with flow cytometric ploidy analysis and histopathological examination. METHODS: Two pieces of testicular tissue were obtained from azoospermic patients to investigate the spermatogenic status of the testis, and to determine the presence of sperm through a wet preparation. The testicular tissue was shredded and then vortexed; the cellular suspension was then processed for a wet preparation sperm search, while the residual tissue was exposed to enzymatic digestion for flow cytometric ploidy analysis. RESULTS: A total of 38 patients had sperm-negative wet preparation results. Of those, six (16%) were shown to have haploid cells after flow cytometric analysis. Histopathological examination showed three samples with maturation arrest at the spermatid stage, and the other three at the spermatocyte stage. CONCLUSIONS: Flow cytometric ploidy analysis can be used to verify the results of a wet preparation sperm search when no sperm were detected. Flow cytometric ploidy analysis can also reveal the presence of spermatids when no sperm are available.