2,296 research outputs found
Haemochromatosis gene mutation H63D is a risk factor for iron overload in Egyptian beta- thalassemic children
Introduction: Iron overload is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in
patients with β-thalassemia. The Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of genetic markers (HFE mutations C282Y and H63D) among Egyptian β-thalassemic
Children and its effect on their iron status. Patients and Methods: 59 β-thalassemic children attending the pediatric hematology clinic in Menoufiya University Hospital (23 thalassemia major, 23 thalassemia intermedia and13 thalassemia trait) with 50 apparently healthy,
Egyptian children (control group) were screened for the prevalence of these two mutations by digestion of PCR products (RFLP). Serum ferritin level was measured by ELISA.
Results: Neither carrier status for the C282Y allele nor homozygous status for the H63D allele were detected in any of the thalassemic children or the 50 controls. The H63D heterozygous state was detected in 15 (25.4%) thalassemic patients with an allele frequency of 12.71% and in 11 (22%) controls with an allele frequency of 11%. with no significant difference between the thalassemic groups and the controls. The prevalence of carriers for the H63D mutation was 26.1% with an allele frequency of 13.04% in patients with either β- thalassemia major or intermedia, while in β- thalassemia trait the prevalence of this mutation was 23.1% with an allele frequency of 11.54%. There were significant higher levels of the mean yearly serum ferritin in both β-thalassemia major and intermedia patients who are heterozygotes for the H63D mutation compared to those without this mutation. The mean serum ferritin levels were positively correlated with the age of the patients. On the other hand, the prevalence of iron -induced complications was not statistically different between patients carrying or not carrying this mutation (among TM and TI). Conclusions: There is no difference in the prevalence of H63D mutation between β-thalassemic patients and the normal children and the presence of a heterozygous H63D status and older age are two risk factors for iron overload in Egyptian β-thalassemic children
Abbreviations: RFLP= Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, HCV=Hepatitis C Virus, ALT = Alanine aminotransferase, AST =Aspartate aminotransferase Keywords: Thalassemia, iron overload, hereditary hemochromatosis, HFE geneEgyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics Vol. 9 (2) 2008: pp. 149-16
Acceptability of Financial Incentives for Health Behaviours: A Discrete Choice Experiment.
BACKGROUND: Healthy behaviours are important determinants of health and disease, but many people find it difficult to perform these behaviours. Systematic reviews support the use of personal financial incentives to encourage healthy behaviours. There is concern that financial incentives may be unacceptable to the public, those delivering services and policymakers, but this has been poorly studied. Without widespread acceptability, financial incentives are unlikely to be widely implemented. We sought to answer two questions: what are the relative preferences of UK adults for attributes of financial incentives for healthy behaviours? Do preferences vary according to the respondents' socio-demographic characteristics? METHODS: We conducted an online discrete choice experiment. Participants were adult members of a market research panel living in the UK selected using quota sampling. Preferences were examined for financial incentives for: smoking cessation, regular physical activity, attendance for vaccination, and attendance for screening. Attributes of interest (and their levels) were: type of incentive (none, cash, shopping vouchers or lottery tickets); value of incentive (a continuous variable); schedule of incentive (same value each week, or value increases as behaviour change is sustained); other information provided (none, written information, face-to-face discussion, or both); and recipients (all eligible individuals, people living in low-income households, or pregnant women). RESULTS: Cash or shopping voucher incentives were preferred as much as, or more than, no incentive in all cases. Lower value incentives and those offered to all eligible individuals were preferred. Preferences for additional information provided alongside incentives varied between behaviours. Younger participants and men were more likely to prefer incentives. There were no clear differences in preference according to educational attainment. CONCLUSIONS: Cash or shopping voucher-type financial incentives for healthy behaviours are not necessarily less acceptable than no incentives to UK adults.This work is produced under the terms of a Career Development Fellowship research training fellowship issued by the National Institute of Health Research to JA (grant number NIHR-CDF-2011-04-17; http://www.nihr.ac.uk/funding/fellowship-programme.htm). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, The National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health. JA is currently funded in full by the Centre for Diet & Activity Research (CEDAR), and the FFS is funded in full by Fuse: the Centre for Translational Research in Public Health. CEDAR and Fuse are UKCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence (http://www.ukcrc.org/research-coordination/joint-funding-initiatives/public-health-research/). Funding for CEDAR (grant number MR/K023187/1) and Fuse (grant number MR/K02325X/1) from the British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research, under the auspices of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, is gratefully acknowledged.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from PLOS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.015740
PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE WITH ANTI-TUMOR ACTIVITY ESTIMATION OF CRUDE EXTRACT, ESSENTIAL OIL AND D-LIMONENE FROM CITRUS AURANTIUM L. AGAINST EHRLICH CARCINOMA
Objective: Plant based drugs have been a solution in the search for more cost-effective and less harmful drugs for the treatment of neoplasia. Citrus aurantium L. (Rutaceae) is abundant in Brazil and D-limonene, a monoterpene used in the prevention and treatment of neoplasia, was identified as a major compound in the oil of this specie. Objective of current study includes estimation of anti-tumor activity of Citrus aurantium L. (Rutaceae) (crude extract, essential oil and D-limonene) against Ehrlich carcinoma, as well as their phytochemical evaluation (D-limonene and essential oil).
Methods: There was a randomized non-clinical trial in which were used adult male mice (Balb-C). Four groups of animals were used having 6 numbers of animal in each group. All groups were inoculated with the Ehrlich tumor and then received the treatment (control, crude extract, essential oil and D-limonene) by oral route daily (28 day treatment). Essential oil was obtained by hydro-distillation and analyzed by the means of GC (Gas Chromatography) that was attached to mass spectrometry. In last of the observations hemogram was obtained.
Results: Animals treated with the essential oil has shown no significant difference compared to the group treated with D-limonene. The group treated with crude extract had a growth inhibition close to the essential oil and D-limonene groups.
Conclusion: ItΒ΄s concluded that the essential oil and the crude extract of Citrus aurantium, L. (Rutaceae) can become therapeutic agents because of their anti-tumor activity with no toxicity to the blood cells and have low cost of production. Further studies are necessary, so they can be used in the treatment of neoplasia in humans. The chromatographic and spectrometric analyzes indicated the presence of other components in smaller amounts in the essential oil, which suggests that they could have a synergic activity to the D-limonene.
Peer Review History:
Received 2 June 2020; Revised 25 June; Accepted 4 July, Available online 15 July 2020
Academic Editor: Dr. Muhammad Zahid Iqbal, AIMST University, Malaysia, [email protected]
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Received file: Reviewer's Comments:
Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.0/10
Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 8.0/10
Reviewer(s) detail:
Ahmad Najib, Universitas Muslim Indonesia, Makassar, Indonesia, [email protected]
Dr. Mohamed Said Fathy Al-Refaey, University of Sadat City, Menofia, Egypt, [email protected]
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