Serological and molecular characterization of Syrian Tomato spotted wilt virus isolates

Thirty four Syrian isolates of Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) collected from tomato and pepper were tested against five specific monoclonal antibodies using TAS-ELISA. The isolates were in two serogroups. Fourteen tomato and sixteen pepper isolates were similar in their reaction with MAb-2, MAb-4, MAb-5 and MAb-6, but did not react with MAb-7 (Serogroup 1). Meanwhile, four isolates collected from pepper reacted with all the MAbs used (Serogroup 2). The expected 620 bp DNA fragment was obtained by RT-PCR from six samples using a specific primer pair designed to amplify the nucleocapsid protein (NP) gene of TSWV. The PCR products were sequenced and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. Sequence analysis revealed that the Syrian TSWV isolates were very similar at the nucleotide (97.74 to 99.84% identity) and amino acid (96.17 to 99.03% identity) sequences levels. The phylogenetic tree showed high similarity of Syrian TSWV isolates with many other representative isolates from different countries

Metabolic syndrome in Tunisian bipolar I patients

Background: The metabolic syndrome is a growing global public health problem which is frequently associated with psychiatric illness. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and to study its profile in Tunisian bipolar I patients. Methods: Our study included 130 patients with bipolar I disorder diagnosed according to the DSM-IV and assessed for metabolic syndrome according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III modified criteria. The mean age was 37.9 ±12.1 years, 45 were women (mean age 37.5±13.4 years) and 85 were men (mean age 38.1 ± 11.4 years). Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 26.1%.The highest prevalence of this syndrome was obtained by association between obesity, low c-HDL and hypertriglyceridemia (44.1%). In the total sample, 59.2% met the criteria for low c-HDL, 53.1% for hypertriglyceridemia, 33.8% for obesity, 16.1% for high fasting glucose and 5.4% for hypertension. Gender, age, illness episode and treatment were not significantly associated with metabolic syndrome, while patients under lithium had higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome than those under valproic acid, carbamazepine or antipsychotics. Patients with metabolic syndrome had significant higher levels of HOMA-IR and uric acid than metabolic syndrome free patients (p< 0.001). Conclusions: Bipolar patients have high prevalence of metabolic syndrome which is associated with insulin resistance and an increase of uric acid values that raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.Keywords: bipolar disorder, metabolic syndrome, uric acid, insulin resistance.African Health Sciences 2011; 11(3): 414 - 42