Interest of the therapeutic education in patients with type 2 diabetes observing the fast of Ramadan

AbstractThe fast of Ramadan is a dilemma for diabetic patients due to the complexity of the management of diabetes during this holy month and the multiple risks they face (hypoglycemia, etc.).ObjectivesEvaluate the impact of a structured protocol of therapeutic education in a sample of type 2 diabetes, who were authorized by their doctors to fast, on metabolic and anthropometric profiles.MethodsThis prospective study was conducted among 54 type 2 diabetic patients (28 men and 26 women) aged 36–65years, recruited from National Nutrition Institute. Patients were divided into two groups: the first group (n=26) received an education session one to two weeks before the month of Ramadan; the second group (n=28) did not have appropriate therapeutic education except therapeutic adjustments. All our diabetic patients benefited from anthropometric measurements, determination of body composition and metabolic assessment (HbA1c, cholesterol, triglycerides, etc.) before and after the month of Ramadan.ResultsThe fast was completed without complications in 25 diabetic patients educated group and 22 control patients.We found that weight loss was greater among educated diabetic patients (−1.05kg) than in controls (−0.58kg), but without statistical significance. Body composition has not undergone significant changes in both diabetic groups.Therapeutic education has led to a decline of 0.27% in HbA1c in the educated group while glycemic control in diabetic patients uneducated remained stable. Furthermore, we observed a better lipid profile in diabetic patients educated than those who did not have education.ConclusionOur results justify the interest of patient education centered on the month of Ramadan in all type 2 diabetic patients observing the fast of the holy month. This education should be continued during Ramadan in order to fulfill this religious rite safely

Salt intake in a group of Tunisian obeses

Background: Salt is directly related to hypertension and cardiovascular disease associated with it. As obesity facilitates the effect of salt, a quantification of obese salt intake is necessary.Methods: Our patients numbering 56 have been recruited in the consultation of the obesity unit. Patients were given a questionnaire about their knowledge concerning salt. Natriuresis of 24 h was quantified. The average amount of sodium consumed per day from foods was determined (SAL), the average amount of sodium consumed per day from table salt added to cooking and seasoning (SAC) and the average total amount of sodium consumed per day (STOQ).Results: The mean age of our patients was 44.31 ± 12.8 years. The average BMI of our patients was 37.12 ± 5.9 kg/m2. The average systolic blood pressure was 123.8 ± 14 mmHg and mean diastolic blood pressure was 76.45 ± 10.7 mmHg. The average amount of sodium consumed per day from food (SAL) was 1 915 ± 1038 mg. The average amount of sodium consumed per day from cooking salt (SAC) was 2487 ± 1663 mg. The total amount of sodium consumed per day (STOQ) was 4402 ± 1831 mg. This addition is equivalent to 11 ± 4.6 g of salt per day. The total sodium intake exceeded 2000 mg/day in 89.2% of patients. More than half (57%) of spontaneous sodium intake comes from salt added. The average natriuresis in our population is 158 ± 68 mmol/24 h, higher than the norm in 18% of cases. The majority (85%) of our patients have claimed that excess salt is bad to very bad for health.Conclusion: Our study showed the importance of salt consumption in obeses and especially table salt and yet the majority of our patients consider it to be harmful to health.It will be necessary to take into account the sodium intake when prescribing the diet.Keywords: Obesity, Salt, Sodium intake, Natriuresis 24

In Vivo and in Vitro Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Neorogioltriol, a New Diterpene Extracted from the Red Algae Laurencia glandulifera

Neorogioltriol is a tricyclic brominated diterpenoid isolated from the organic extract of the red algae Laurencia glandulifera. In the present study, the anti-inflammatory effects of neorogioltriol were evaluated both in vivo using carrageenan-induced paw edema and in vitro on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated Raw264.7 macrophages. The in vivo study demonstrated that the administration of 1 mg/kg of neorogioltriol resulted in the significant reduction of carregeenan-induced rat edema. In vitro, our results show that neorogioltriol treatment decreased the luciferase activity in LPS-stimulated Raw264.7 cells, stably transfected with the NF-κB-dependent luciferase reporter. This effect on NF-κB activation is not mediated through MAPK pathways. The inhibition of NF-κB activity correlates with decreased levels of LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) present in neorogioltriol treated supernatant cell culture. Further analyses indicated that this product also significantly inhibited the release of nitric oxide and the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in LPS-stimulated Raw264.7 cells. These latter effects could only be observed for neorogioltriol concentrations below 62.5 μM. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing a molecule derived from Laurencia glandulifera with anti-inflammatory activity both in vivo and in vitro. The effect demonstrated in vitro may be explained by the inhibition of the LPS-induced NF-κB activation and TNFα production. NO release and COX-2 expression may reinforce this effect

Nutritional risk factors for postmenopausal osteoporosis

Background: Osteoporosis is a bone disease that combines both a decrease in bone density and its internal architecture changes. Nutrition is one of the major determinants of osteoporosis.Aim: The purpose of our study was to identify nutritional risk factors of osteoporosis of two groups of osteoporotic women and witnesses.Methods: We conducted a comparative cross-sectional study including 60 postmenopausal women and screening for osteoporosis by a bone densitometry, recruited the outpatient service of Rheumatology of the Institute KASSAB.Results: We have identified excessive supply of saturated fatty acids (SFA) in the osteoporotic compared with controls (13.27% vs 10.23%, p= 0.002) and an inadequate intake of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (12.6% vs 16.16%, p=0.012).A low calcium intake is another factor of risk of osteoporosis (574.27 ± 336.9 mg/day vs 782.45 ± 340.54 mg/day; p= 0.021). This is explained by the low consumption of milk and milk products objectified in the osteoporotic group (p= 0.001). We also found a negative relationship between inadequate intakes of potassium and osteoporosis (2241.55 ±1049.85 mg/day vs 2988.17 ± 1146.52 mg/day; p= 0.011). This may be due to the low consumption in fruit and vegetables, sources of potassium, found in the osteoporotic group (p= 0.003).We found a significant increase in the consumption of the VVPO group in the osteoporotic toward women witness (2.23 ± 0.99 number of times/day vs 1.67 ± 0.76 number of times/day; p= 0.019). A high consumption of coffee appears also as a risk factor since the osteoporotic group consume almost twice than controls (p= 0.002).Conclusion: Nutritional risk factors of osteoporosis are all the most important that they are editable and can take their place in a prevention of public health policy.Keywords: Osteoporosis; Menopause; Risk factors; Nutritio

Improving Vaccine-Induced Immunity: Can Baseline Predict Outcome?

Immune signatures measured at baseline and immediately prior to vaccination may predict the immune response to vaccination. Such pre-vaccine assessment might allow not only population-based, but also more personalized vaccination strategies ('precision vaccination'). If baseline immune signatures are predictive, the underlying mechanism they reflect may also determine vaccination outcome. Thus, baseline signatures might contribute to identifying interventional targets to be modulated prior to vaccination in order to improve vaccination responses. This concept has the potential to transform vaccination strategies and usher in a new approach to improve global health

Transcriptomic Signature of Leishmania Infected Mice Macrophages: A Metabolic Point of View

We analyzed the transcriptional signatures of mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages at different times after infection with promastigotes of the protozoan parasite Leishmania major. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis revealed that the macrophage metabolic pathways including carbohydrate and lipid metabolisms were among the most altered pathways at later time points of infection. Indeed, L. major promastiogtes induced increased mRNA levels of the glucose transporter and almost all of the genes associated with glycolysis and lactate dehydrogenase, suggesting a shift to anaerobic glycolysis. On the other hand, L. major promastigotes enhanced the expression of scavenger receptors involved in the uptake of Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL), inhibited the expression of genes coding for proteins regulating cholesterol efflux, and induced the synthesis of triacylglycerides. These data suggested that Leishmania infection disturbs cholesterol and triglycerides homeostasis and may lead to cholesterol accumulation and foam cell formation. Using Filipin and Bodipy staining, we showed cholesterol and triglycerides accumulation in infected macrophages. Moreover, Bodipy-positive lipid droplets accumulated in close proximity to parasitophorous vacuoles, suggesting that intracellular L. major may take advantage of these organelles as high-energy substrate sources. While the effect of infection on cholesterol accumulation and lipid droplet formation was independent on parasite development, our data indicate that anaerobic glycolysis is actively induced by L. major during the establishment of infection

A cloud-based bioinformatic analytic infrastructure and Data Management Core for the Expanded Program on Immunization Consortium.

The Expanded Program for Immunization Consortium - Human Immunology Project Consortium study aims to employ systems biology to identify and characterize vaccine-induced biomarkers that predict immunogenicity in newborns. Key to this effort is the establishment of the Data Management Core (DMC) to provide reliable data and bioinformatic infrastructure for centralized curation, storage, and analysis of multiple de-identified "omic" datasets. The DMC established a cloud-based architecture using Amazon Web Services to track, store, and share data according to National Institutes of Health standards. The DMC tracks biological samples during collection, shipping, and processing while capturing sample metadata and associated clinical data. Multi-omic datasets are stored in access-controlled Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) for data security and file version control. All data undergo quality control processes at the generating site followed by DMC validation for quality assurance. The DMC maintains a controlled computing environment for data analysis and integration. Upon publication, the DMC deposits finalized datasets to public repositories. The DMC architecture provides resources and scientific expertise to accelerate translational discovery. Robust operations allow rapid sharing of results across the project team. Maintenance of data quality standards and public data deposition will further benefit the scientific community

A single birth dose of Hepatitis B vaccine induces polyfunctional CD4+ T helper cells.

A single birth-dose of Hepatitis B vaccine (HepB) can protect newborns from acquiring Hepatitis B infection through vertical transmission, though several follow-up doses are required to induce long-lived protection. In addition to stimulating antibodies, a birth-dose of HepB might also induce polyfunctional CD4+ T-cells, which may contribute to initial protection. We investigated whether vaccination with HepB in the first week of life induced detectable antigen-specific CD4+ T-cells after only a single dose and following completion of the entire HepB vaccine schedule (3 doses). Using HBsAg- stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 344 infants, we detected increased populations of antigen-specific polyfunctional CD154+IL-2+TNFα+ CD4+ T-cells following a single birth-dose of HepB in a proportion of infants. Frequencies of polyfunctional T-cells increased following the completion of the HepB schedule but increases in the proportion of responders as compared to following only one dose was marginal. Polyfunctional T-cells correlated positively with serum antibody titres following the birth dose (day30) and completion of the 3-dose primary HepB vaccine series (day 128). These data indicate that a single birth dose of HepB provides immune priming for both antigen-specific B- and T cells