Visceral adiposity index correlation with Rotterdam criteria in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

Background: The present research explores the correlation of visceral obesity index with Rotterdam criteria (hyperandrogenism and/or hyperandrogenemia, oligomenorrhea and Ultrasound polycystic ovarian morphology) among Egyptian polycystic ovary syndrome patients.Methods: We enrolled one hundred female patients with polycystic ovary syndrome with age ranged 18-44 years (mean age   26.83±6.092 years).Results: VAI very strongly correlated with waist circumference, TG and HDL-c, also moderately correlated with systolic B.P, BMI, HOMA-IR and insulin levels, also we found only insulin, menstrual cycles per year number and FGS were significant predictors of hyperandrogenemia in PCOS patients. Only Ultrasound polycystic ovarian morphology was a significant risk factor for oligomenorrhea in PCOS patients in logistic regression analysis. VAI, TT and Farman gallawy score can significantly predict number of the menstrual cycles per year number (p <0.05). In logistic regression analysis, only oligomenorrhea was a significant independent risk factor for PCOM (p <0.05). In addition, only VAI was a significant independent (p <0.05) risk factor for metabolic syndrome.Conclusions: VAI was an independent significant predictor for metabolic syndrome in patients with PCOS and a good marker of cardiometabolic risk in PCOS patients. In addition, VAI was significant predictors of annual menusteral cycle but not testosterone levels or polycystic ovarian morphology in PCOS. This study confirms the value of VAI in identification of patient with risk for metabolic syndrome and cardiometabolic risk in PCOS patients, but not found a role for VAI in diagnosis of PCOS

Prevalence and predictors for low total testosterone levels among male type 2 diabetic patients: an Egyptian experience

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) affects an estimated 285 million people worldwide. This number is expected to reach 438 million by the year 2030. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of male hypogonadism among Egyptian patients with type 2 diabetes and to identify the risk factors may be associated with low serum testosterone concentrations in men with type 2 diabetes.Methods: 140 male patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited in this cross-sectional study.  This study WAS conducted from January 2012 to January 2016 in the endocrinology and metabolism unit, Mansoura University, Egypt.Results: We found 48 (34.2%)  patients with hypogonadism  (defined as  TT ≤300 ng/dl) among 140 male patients with type 2 diabetes. 7 out of   48 (14.5%) patients with TT ≤300 ng/dl had high abnormal gondotrophins hormones levels while 41  patients out of   48 (85.5%) had normal gondotrophins hormones levels. We found BMI, WC, Hba1c,  UACR, retinopathy ratio, nephropathy ratio, smoker ratio and patient on insulin therapy ratio were increased in the low TT group with statistically significance, but non statistically significant difference in  age, diabetic duration, FSH, LH, Prolactin and  lipid profile. In this study by using Pearson correlation, we found a statistically significant correlation between TT levels with   BMI, WC, FSH, LH, Hba1c, and UACR (P value<0.05). Also by using stepwise multiple regression analysis, we found BMI, WC, LH, Hba1c, and UACR were statistically significant predictors of TT levels. In logistic regression analysis, we found Hba1c, UACR, and WC were statistically significant risk factors for MHG.  Conclusions: Visceral obesity, higher Hba1c, and degree of albuminuria are independent risk factors for hypogonadism in Egyptian male patients with type 2 diabetes.

Epidemiological survey on mange mite of rabbits in the Southern Region of Egypt

The aim of the present study was to estimate the epidemic situation of mites, in rabbit dermatologic disease in and around Qena province, in the southern region of Egypt. Two hundred cases of dermatologic disease from the formentioned province were investigated by conducting deep skin scraping between May 2011 and October 2012. The overall prevalence was 25%. Sarcoptic scabiei uniculi (22.5%) was the most frequent mite, followed by Notoedres cati cuniculi (2.5%). To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of Notoedres cati cuniculi among studied rabbits in the study region. Study on different breeds, English represents highest prevalence of mites 30%. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of mange mite infection between male and female rabbits (p > 0.05). Similarly, the prevalence was not significant among the age groups and rabbit breeds (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the present prevalence of mange mites was still high enough to cause significant economic losses in the study area. Therefore, strengthening the control effort was suggested

High sensitivity detection of nucleic acids using electrochemistry and spectroscopy

The ability to detect and quantify specific biomarkers can lead to the development of very powerful tools for the diagnosis and prognosis of disease. For example, electrochemical nucleic acid biosensors provide an easy, rapid, portable and economic tool for the diagnosis of diseases from cancer to cardiovascular disease. This thesis reports on highly sensitive DNA sandwich assays where the probe strand is labelled with an electrocatalytic nanoparticle to sensitively signal the binding event. Specifically, an electrode is functionalised with capture strands that are complementary to approximately 50% of the target. Once the target is hybridised to the capture strand, a probe strand, that is labelled with an electrocatalytic nanoparticle and is complementary to the unbound section of the target, is allowed to hybridise, i.e., the immobilisation of the nanoparticles is mediated by the presence of the target. The magnitude of the electrocatalytic current depends on the concentration of the target and wide dynamic ranges and low LODs can be achieved. The dynamic range achieved was between 1 aM and 100 nM and limit of detection of 1.5 x 10-13 M was reached. The electrocatalytic nanoparticles comprise a hemispherical platinum core with a silver shell. These particles are highly electrocatalytic and show some promise as labels in surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. The rate of heterogeneous electron transfer from the underlying electrode to the bound nanoparticle can influence the observed electrocatalytic current especially if the target sequence contains many bases. To investigate the possibility of improving the conductivity of the DNA strands, a polyaniline (PANI) based conducting nucleic acid analogue was designed and modelled in silico. Then it was electrochemically synthesized using a novel step-wise addition of individual bases and its binding to natural DNA was assessed. Finally, the current generated from an electrocatalytic nanoparticle bound through hybridisation was examined. The PANI-NA layer was characterized using electrochemical techniques, imaging of the attached nanoparticle and single molecule scanning tunnelling microscopy. The measurement of current densities of the electrodes modified with a PANI-NA capture strand immobilizing electrocatalytic nanoparticles was found to be 16 times the current densities obtained with conventional DNA capture strand at similar concentrations

Quantification of proteinuria in mild preeclampsia with random albumin creatinine ratio

Objective: To investigate the whether spot urinealbumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) compared to the 24hurinary protein (gold standard) to detect significantproteinuria in patients with preeclampsia.Study design:80 pregnant patients diagnosed to have hypertension inlate pregnancy were instructed to collect urine during a24-hour period. Albumin creatinine ratio was evaluatedin a random urinary specimen and morning samples forquantization of proteinuria. Out of these, 78 patientsfulfilled the inclusion criteria. The predictive value of therandom urinary ACR for the diagnosis of significantproteinuria was estimated by using various cutoff valuesof urinary ACR in comparison to 24-h urine collection asthe gold standard.Results: 70 (89%) patients had preeclampsia. The meanmorning systolic blood pressure on the day of the urinecollections was 150 mmHg and mean diastolic bloodpressure 114 mmHg. The mean total protein was1961.46+1683.02 mg/24h, and the urinary ACR inrandom samples was 781.31+1041 mg/g creatinine,while in the morning sample urinary ACR was886.43+1180.9 mg/g creatinine. There was a statisticallysignificant positive correlation between in 24-hours urineproteins and ACR in both daytime and morning urinesamples. The best cutoff point for ACR in randomsample was 262.5 mg /g creatinine as with a sensitivityof 85.5% and a specificity of 81.8%, the positivepredictive value was 96.7% and negative predictive valuewas 47.4%. While the best cutoff point for ACR inmorning sample was 240 mg /g creatinine with asensitivity of 94.2% and a specificity of 63.6%, thepositive predictive value was 94.2% and negativepredictive value was 63.6%.Conclusion: Albumin/creatinine ratio is not an ideal diagnostic test to replace 24-hour urine collection for the diagnosis of preeclampsia. However, it can be used as a screening test with sensitivity 94% when the cut point of albumin/creatinine ratio of the morning urine sample is set below 240 mg/g creatinine

An epidemiological study on endoparasites of domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Egypt with special reference to their health impact

The present study was designed to study the enteric parasites infection in domestic rabbits in Upper Egypt and its impact on their health. A total of 298 faecal samples were collected from different farms in Upper Egypt. Each faecal sample was screened for parasitic isolation during May 2011- October 2012. Furthermore, The Eimeria species from samples containing isolated and sporulated oocysts were morphologically identified under microscope. Additionally, the Sheather’s sugar flotation and Modified Zeihl Neelsen techniques were used to detect the Cryptosporidium species oocyst. According to results of the present study, the overall enteric parasite infections in rabbits was 68.12%, with 5.7% samples were found to be positive for helminths (P. ambiguus) and 49% were found to harbour various species of protozoa (Eimeria spp. and Cryptosporidium oocysts). Influences of age, sex and breed on the prevalence were recorded. Also, there was strong significant seasonal trends in the prevalence of the recovered parasites. Eight species of Eimeria were detected. Concurrent infection with two to eight Eimeria species occurred most frequently. Cryptosporidium oocyst was detected in 45 rabbits (15.1%). To the best of author’s knowledge, this the first report of E. piriformis and Cryptosporidium species in rabbits in Egypt. Histopathological changes were indicative of inflammatory reactions brought about by parasitic infection with Eimeria species and its consequent irritating effects on intestine. The current study showed the characteristics of the prevalence of rabbit enteric parasite infection in Egypt and provided relevant ‘baseline’ data for assessing the effectiveness of future control strategies against these parasites in Egypt

Tribo-corrosion mechanisms of stainless steel in soft drinks

Tribo-corrosion mechanisms of 316L Stainless Steel in slurries containing common household soft drinks have been studied through investigating the micro-abrasion-corrosion performance using a ball and disk apparatus which has been modified to measure the in-situ corrosion current during the abrasion process. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of pH and solution viscosity on the micro-abrasion-corrosion performance of the material. 316L Stainless Steel was selected because it is commonly used as a dental replacement material. This is an important area of work as the use of steel retainers as well as other stainless steel dental replacements is still widespread and the effectiveness of these devices will be determined by their tribological and tribo-corrosion performance. Additionally, an attempt has been made to investigate the importance of the pH and viscosity variables on the tribo-corrosive synergism, wastage and mechanism maps