65 research outputs found

    THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF VIRO-INDUCED CARCINOGENESIS

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    Cancer is the most emerging condition effecting millions of people globally and the leading cause of death. Worldwide, cancer is considered a great public health problem...

    Determination of carbendazim residues in Moroccan tomato samples using local enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and comparison with liquid chromatography

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    The fungicide carbendazim (CBZ) is not approved for agricultural uses in some countries but is still used by many farmers due to its effectiveness. For this reason, in previous work of the same authors, they developed a competitive enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) using rabbit polyclonal antibodies to detect CBZ. This study aimed to validate this in-house ELISA after extraction with methanol for CBZ analysis in tomato samples, and the results were compared with the conventional high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method after QuEChERS extraction. The results showed that both ELISA and HPLC methods have good repeatability, reproducibility and high precision with a good variation verified by principal components analysis (PCA). ANOVA tested the detection limit (LOD), and quantification limit (LOQ), and the values for ELISA (LOD = 0.026± 0.001 ”g/L and LOQ = 0.083 ± 0.003 ”g/L) were significantly lower than those obtained by HPLC (LOD = 0.61 ± 0.02 ”g/L and LOQ = 1.85 ± 0.07 ”g/L). ELISA and HPLC were used for analyzing CBZ in 100 Moroccan tomato samples. These two methods detected the presence of CBZ above the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) level in 9 samples. However, the presence of the  CBZ was detected in the 79 samples by ELISA and quantified in 66 samples. In contrast, the presence of CBZ was detected in 57 and quantified in 35 samples by HPLC. These results showed that the ELISA system coupled with a simple methanol extraction is much more sensitive than HPLC after QuEChERS extraction

    Frequency of genomic mutations mediating resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates to rifampicin in Northern Morocco

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    Drug resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is challenging particularly in developing countries. As such, a previous investigation gave the first insight into the mutational status of the Rifampicin Resistance Determining Region (RRDR) of rpoB gene among a restricted number of MTB patients’ residents in the Northern Morocco. The purpose of this study was to investigate rpoB mutation types and frequencies associated with resistance to Rifampicin in a larger panel of MTB patients and to evaluate the usefulness of these mutations to improve the diagnosis of resistance to Rifampicin. A panel of 301 consecutive sputum samples belonging to patients suscpected of having TB from Northern Morocco was collected at the Pasteur Institute of Tangier between 2014-2017. Samples were subjected to conventionel microbiological tests. Evaluation of rpoB muational status was assessed by PCR amplification and sequencing of the RRDR of the rpoB gene. DST results showed that 26.4% of strains were MDR. Sequencing results reported single point mutations in 36 of 65 RIFR isolates of which two had two mutations. Aminoacid substitutions in the codon Ser531Leu occurred at the highest frequency (34.46%). Overall, 10 aminoacid substitutions have been registered, and the H526S substitution was reported for the first time. The present study highlighted that resistance to RIF is a reliable marker of MDR-TB, the common mutations successfully detected in the rpoB 531, rpoB526 and rpoB516 codons provide a foundation for the implementation of molecular approaches such as Hain and GeneXpert as a routine tests to detect DR-TB. However, considerable work is still necessary to identify extensive mutations associated with DR-TB

    ASSESSMENT OF MOLECULAR BIOMARKERS FOR BLADDER CANCER DIAGNOSIS, GRADING AND PROGNOSIS

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    Worldwide, bladder cancer is a very significant public health problem, in terms of prevalence, mortality and management for individuals and their families. Bladder cancer is the fourth most commonly diagnosed cancer in men and one of the heaviest cancers in terms of cost. Although transurethral resection of the bladder followed by intravesical instillation of live attenuated Bacillus Calmette–GuĂ©rin (BCG) is considered as the gold standard for patients with intermediate and high risk, only a small portion of patient responds to the BCG-therapy. Bladder cancer management is faced by the therapy failure, great side effects and some difficulties in histological classification. Accordingly, growing interest is given to the use of genetic, epigenetic and immunologic biomarkers for molecular signature characterization and tumor stratification. In Morocco, great efforts have been made to contribute to the improvement of management of bladder cancer and many studies were made to evaluate some genetic and epigenetic biomarkers. Generated data is of a great interest for characterization of bladder cancer tumors in Morocco and could be used for better management of this disease

    Potential effect of fruit and flower extracts of Arbutus unedo L. on Tetrahymena pyriformis exposed to a cobalt-60 source

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    Exposure of Tetrahymena pyriformis cultures to cobalt-60 for 72 h significantly impacted the cells' growth, appearance, and physiology. This study aims to investigate the protective effects of Arbutus unedo L flowers and fruit extracts on T. pyriformis against gamma radiation. Initially, aqueous and 50% ethanolic extracts of the fruits and flowers were prepared, and their cytotoxicity on the ciliate was evaluated. The irradiated ciliate's cellular viability and morphological aspect improved when a non-toxic concentration of 25 ”g/mL was added to the growth medium. The addition of extracts restored glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase activities to their initial levels, similar to non-irradiated cells. In addition, the extracts reduced oxidative stress markers, such as lipid peroxidation, and decreased the activities of antioxidant defence enzymes, catalase, and superoxide dismutase. This may be attributed to the antioxidant properties of the extracts. Results of this study revealed that the flower extracts exhibited better protective effects than the fruit extracts, with superior antioxidant activity in the in-vitro DPPH scavenging assay. These results suggest that A. unedo flower extracts may have potential as exogenous radioprotective agents

    EVALUATION OF GPX1 PRO198LEU POLYMORPHISM, GSTP1 EXPRESSION AND GENE PROMOTER METHYLATION IN MOROCCAN PATIENTS WITH BLADDER CANCER

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    Bladder cancer (BC) is the third most common male malignancy in Morocco. The risk factors for developing BC are multiples including dietary conditions, environmental exposure and oxidative stress. Glutathione Peroxidase-1 (GPX1) and Glutathione S-Transferase Pi (GSTP1) are two key enzymes in cell detoxification process. GPX1 Pro198Leu polymorphism is associated with a decrease of enzyme activity and may contribute to BC susceptibility. Deregulated expression of GSTP1 enzyme was reported in various human tumors, also, epigenetic silencing of GSTP1 gene by aberrant promoter methylation has been shown to be involved in the molecular pathway for cancer development. In this study, we aimed to assess the presence of GPX1 Pro198Leu polymorphism and determine the expression status of GSTP1-in relation to its promoter methylation- in Moroccan population to evaluate their association with the risk of developing BC in Moroccan patients. Genotyping of GPX1 Pro198Leu polymorphism was carried out by Sanger sequencing. GSTP1 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry, GSTP1 promoter methylation status was studied by Methylation Specifiq PCR method. No significant association between GPX1 Pro198Leu polymorphism and BC occurrence was found (Pro/Leu vs. Pro/Pro: p=0.425). For the analysis of Pro198Leu polymorphism and progression of BC, no association was observed neither for stages (Pro/Leu vs. Pro/Pro: p=0.500) nor grades (Pro/Leu vs. Pro/Pro: p=0.415). GSTP1 expression was strong in 23.33%, moderate in 60% and weak in 13.33% of BC cases. Variability of the expression does not correlate with high-grade cancer or invasive-stage (p˃0.05). No GSTP1 promoter methylation was detected in all cases. Our results showed that GPX1 Pro198Leu polymorphism and GSTP1 expression are not closely associated with the risk of BC in our population, suggesting that the effect of these biomarkers on BC development might be a result of a combination with other genetic and epigenetic alterations and/or non-genetic variables such as diet and lifestyle factors

    Human papillomavirus detection in moroccan patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a malignant tumor which arises in surface epithelium of the posterior wall of the nasopharynx. There's is evidence that Epstein Barr virus (EBV) is associated to NPC development. However, many epidemiologic studies point to a connection between viral infections by the human papillomavirus (HPV) and NPC.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Seventy Moroccan patients with NPC were screened for EBV and HPV. EBV detection was performed by PCR amplification of BZLF1 gene, encoding the ZEBRA (Z Epstein-Barr Virus Replication Activator) protein, and HPV infection was screened by PCR amplification with subsequent typing by hybridization with specific oligonucleotides for HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45 and 59.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The age distribution of our patients revealed a bimodal pattern. Sixty two cases (88.9%) were classified as type 3 (undifferentiated carcinoma), 6 (8.6%) as type 2 (non keratinizing NPC) and only 2 (2.9%) cases were classified as type 1 (keratinizing NPC). EBV was detected in all NPC tumors, whereas HPV DNA was revealed in 34% of cases (24/70). Molecular analysis showed that 20.8% (5/24) were infected with HPV31, and the remaining were infected with other oncogenic types (i.e., HPV59, 16, 18, 33, 35 and 45). In addition, statistical analysis showed that there's no association between sex or age and HPV infection (P > 0.1).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data indicated that EBV is commonly associated with NPC in Moroccan patients and show for the first time that NPC tumours from Moroccan patients harbour high risk HPV genotypes.</p

    Molecular characterization of mutations associated with resistance to second line drugs in Mycobacterium tuberculosis patients from Casablanca, Morocco

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    The emergence and spread of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is a serious threat to global health. Therefore, its rapid diagnosis is crucial. The present study aimed to characterize mutations conferring resistance to second line drugs (SLDs) within multidrug Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MDR-MTB) isolates and to estimate the occurrence of XDR-TB in Casablanca, Morocco. A panel of 200 MDR-TB isolates was collected at the Pasteur Institute between 2015-2018. Samples were subjected to drug susceptibility testing to Ofloxacin (OFX), Kanamycin (KAN) and Amikacin (AMK). The mutational status of gyrA, gyrB, rrs, tlyA and eis was assessed by sequencing these target genes. Drug susceptibility testing for SLDs showed that among the 200 MDR strains, 20% were resistant to OFX, 2.5% to KAN and 1.5% to AMK. Overall, 14.5% of MDR strains harbored mutations in gyrA, gyrB, rrs and tlyA genes. From the 40 OFXR isolates, 67.5% had mutations in QRDR of gyrA and gyrB genes, the most frequent one being Ala90Val in gyrA gene. Of note, none of the isolates harbored simultaneously mutations in gyrA and gyrB genes. In eight out of the 200 MDR-TB isolates resistant either to KAN or AMK, only 25% had A1401G or Lys89Glu change in rrs and tlyA genes respectively. This study is very informative and provides data on the alarming rate of fluoroquinolone resistance which warrants the need to implement appropriate drug regimens to prevent the emergence and spread of more severe forms of Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance

    Effect of Melatonin Implants during the Non-Breeding Season on the Onset of Ovarian Activity and the Plasma Prolactin in Dromedary Camel

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    To examine a possible control of reproductive seasonality by melatonin, continual-release subcutaneous melatonin implants were inserted 4.5 months before the natural breeding season (October–April) into female camels (Melatonin-treated group). The animals were exposed to an artificial long photoperiod (16L:8D) for 41 days prior to implant placement to facilitate receptivity to the short-day signal that is expected with melatonin implants. The treated and control groups (untreated females) were maintained separately under outdoor natural conditions. Ovarian follicular development was monitored in both groups by transrectal ultrasonography and by plasma estradiol-17ÎČ concentrations performed weekly for 8 weeks and then for 14 weeks following implant insertion. Plasma prolactin concentrations were determined at 45 and 15 days before and 0, 14, 28, 56, and 98 days after implant insertion. Plasma melatonin concentration was determined to validate response to the artificial long photoperiod and to verify the pattern of release from the implants. Results showed that the artificial long photoperiod induced a melatonin secretion peak of significantly (P < 0.05) shorter duration (about 2.5 h). Melatonin release from the implants resulted in higher circulating plasma melatonin levels during daytime and nighttime which persisted for more than 12 weeks following implants insertion. Treatment with melatonin implants advanced the onset of follicular growth activity by 3.5 months compared to untreated animals. Plasma estradiol-17ÎČ increased gradually from the second week after the beginning of treatment to reach significantly (P < 0.01) higher concentrations (39.2 ± 6.2 to 46.4 ± 4.5 pg/ml) between the third and the fifth week post insertion of melatonin implants. Treatment with melatonin implants also induced a moderate, but significant (P < 0.05) suppressive effect on plasma prolactin concentration on the 28th day. These results demonstrate that photoperiod appears to be involved in dromedary reproductive seasonality. Melatonin implants may be a useful tool to manipulate seasonality and to improve reproductive performance in this species. Administration of subcutaneous melatonin implants during the transition period to the breeding season following an artificial signal of long photoperiod have the potential to advance the breeding season in camels by about 2.5 months
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