Insulin-sensitizing and Anti-proliferative Effects of Argania spinosa Seed Extracts

Argania spinosa is an evergreen tree endemic of southwestern Morocco. Many preparations have been used in traditional Moroccan medicine for centuries to treat several illnesses including diabetes. However, scientific evidence supporting these actions is lacking. Therefore, we prepared various extracts of the argan fruit, namely keel, cake and argan oil extracts, which we tested in the HTC hepatoma cell line for their potential to affect cellular insulin responses. Cell viability was measured by Trypan Blue exclusion and the response to insulin evaluated by the activation of the extracellular regulated kinase (ERK1/2), ERK kinase (MEK1/2) and protein kinase B (PKB/Akt) signaling components. None of the extracts demonstrated significant cytotoxic activity. Certain extracts demonstrated a bi-phasic effect on ERK1/2 activation; low doses of the extract slightly increased ERK1/2 activation in response to insulin, whereas higher doses completely abolished the response. In contrast, none of the extracts had any significant effect on MEK whereas only a cake saponin subfraction enhanced insulin-induced PKB/Akt activation. The specific action of argan oil extracts on ERK1/2 activation made us consider an anti-proliferative action. We have thus tested other transformed cell lines (HT-1080 and MSV-MDCK-INV cells) and found similar results. Inhibition of ERK1/2 activation was also associated with decreased DNA synthesis as evidenced by [(3)H]thymidine incorporation experiments. These results suggest that the products of Argania spinosa may provide a new therapeutic avenue against proliferative diseases

Modeling Subjective Symptoms Related to Micro-Hydrargyrism in a Population of Moroccan Dentists

BACKGROUND፡ The ability of mercury to deposit throughout the body and alter a wide range of molecular and cellular pathways results in a polymorphic and complex clinical phenotype with over 250 possible symptoms. However, some of them are recurrently cited as evoking chronic mercury poisoning. In this light, dentists users of dental amalgams are chronically exposed to mercury so that in-depth epidemiological investigations and adapted statistical methods are required to highlight adverse effects of this exposure.METHODS: In order to study the health impact of the occupational mercury exposure in a population of liberal dentists practicing in two Moroccan regions, a list of eighteen subjective symptoms commonly associated with micro-hydrargyrism was drawn up. Then, seven statisctical models adapted to count data were fitted. Finally, three methods were used to compare their relative performance in order to choose the most appropriate one.RESULTS: The adopted logical path, from the response variable selection till models’ comparison, led us to lean towards quasi- Poisson regression as the best way to predict the number of symptoms declared by dentists according to mercury exposure.CONCLUSIONS: Interpretation of the selected model allowed us to conclude that the reduction of dental amalgam use allows the reduction of subjective symptoms related to mercury exposure

Synthese, etude biochimique et parasitologique de nouveaux analogues du levamisole et du pyrantel

SIGLEINIST T 70824 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Micromethode semi-automatisee et informatisee pour la determination de la CMI, de la CMB, du TMB, du type d'interaction entre 2 et 3 antibacteriens, et de la cytotoxicite des antibacteriens

SIGLECNRS T 57727 / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc

Socio-economic and environmental factors associated with Montenegro skin test positivity in an endemic area of visceral leishmaniasis in northern Morocco

In Marocco, many aspects of human asymptomatic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) still have to be clarified and little information is available about the factors that predispose individuals to asymptomatic infection. A prospective study was carried out in 889 healthy children under the age of 15 years living in two provinces in the endemic area in northern Morocco (the provinces of Taounate and My Yacoub) from April to May 2010. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and the socio-economic and environmental characteristics associated with infection by Leishmania infantum. The Montenegro skin test (MST) was used to detect asymptomatic infection. The prevalence of transmission of infection was 11.4% and approximately 2 times higher in Taounate than in My Yacoub, as measured by MST. Asymptomatic infection was associated with gender, age, presence of familial links, proximity to chickens, and the number of people in the house and locality, but it was not associated to education status, presence of dogs, livestock waste, sewage disposal, water supply system or use of insecticide

Characterization of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Salmonella typhimurium by Phenotypic and Genotypic Typing Methods

During 1994, 10 isolates of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Salmonella typhimurium were recovered from children transferred to our hospital from two different centers. Two additional isolates were recovered from two nurses from one of these centers. The aim of this study was to determine if there is any relationship between these isolates. The characterization was done by phenotypic and genotypic methods: biotyping, phage typing, antibiotic susceptibility pattern determination, plasmid analysis, ribotyping (by the four endonucleases EcoRI, SmaI, BglII, and PvuII), pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of genome macrorestriction patterns with XbaI, and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) pattern determination (with the three primers 217 d2, B1, and A3). The same biotype, the same serotype, and an identical antibiotype were found. All isolates were resistant to oxyimino-β-lactams, gentamicin, tobramycin, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. All isolates showed an indistinguishable pattern by ribotyping and very similar patterns by PFGE and RAPD. The overall results indicated the spread of a closely related strain of S. typhimurium in children and nurses

Plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance in expanded spectrum beta lactamase producing enterobacteriaceae in Morocco.

International audienceINTRODUCTION: Although independently acquired, plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance appears to be linked with extended-spectrum or AmpC-type beta-lactamases. Since no data are available in African countries, the prevalence of qnr genes at the University Hospital Ibn Rochd, Casablanca, Morocco, was investigated. METHODOLOGY: Between October 2006 and March 2007, the following 39 randomly selected non-duplicate Enterobacteriaceae producing an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL), representing 20% of ESBL strains with respect to species and ward origin, were collected: Escherichia coli (n = 16); Klebsiella spp (n = 14); Enterobacter cloacae (n = 8); Proteus mirabilis (n = 1). Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed according to CLSI guidelines. ESBL detection was performed by the double disc diffusion test. A multiplex PCR was conducted to detect qnrA, qnrB and qnrS genes that were confirmed by sequencing of the PCR product. RESULTS: The estimated overall prevalence of qnr reached 36% (n = 14; qnrA, 10.25%; qnrB, 23.07%; qnrS, 2.56%). Genes were identified in E. coli, Klebsiella and Enterobacter with a respective prevalence of 18.7%, 50% and 62.5%.  The qnr genes were detected in nine wards and qnrA1, qnrB1-B2-B4 and qnrS1 variants were identified. Three genes were identified among nalidixic acid susceptible strains (n = 6); three of those were also susceptible to ciprofloxacin. Among nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin resistant strains, all strains had qnrB. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the high prevalence of qnr genes among ESBL strains in the Ibn Rochd CHU, Casablanca. Moreover, qnr were present in quinolone-susceptible strains which could lead to in vivo selection of ciprofloxacin-resistant strains