The impact of intra gastric balloon as a treatment of obesity on pre-diabetes in obese persons

Introduction: Obesity is arising health problem that is linked to many pathological conditions. Treatment of obesity has a beneficial effect on many health problems. Little data available about effect of weight loss on prediabetes.Object: To evaluate the effect of intra gastric balloon (IGB) as obesity treatment on prediabetes.Method: In a prospective study we have followed 42 obese prediabetic patients who used IGB as obesity treatment. All patients were evaluated for anthropometric measures, lipid profile, fasting blood glucose (FBG), postprandial blood glucose (PPBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin HbA1c before and 6 months after IGB insertion.Results: There was a significant reduction in body weight, waist–hip ratio and also body mass index (BMI), as by time of balloon removal mean body weight was 86.62 ± 7.84 Kg, and mean BMI at time of removal was 29.48 ± 2.31 kg/m2 compared to 99.10 ± 7.34 Kg and 33.61 ± 2.18 Kg/m2 before balloon insertion (p < 0.05). Also, significant improvement of FBG and PPBG with mean value of FBG 93.00 ± 9.12 mg% and mean level of PPBG 133.31 ± 11.68 mg% compared to FBG 110.71 ± 12.10 mg% and PPBG 166.81 ± 18.82 mg% before balloon insertion (p < 0.05), likewise there was a significant reduction in HbA1c as its mean value has become 5.48 ± 0.35 compared to 6.01 ± 0.21 before balloon insertion (p < 0.05).Conclusions: six months treatment with IGB for obesity improved the prediabetic condition that may prevent or at least delay type II diabetes mellitus, which needs longer follow-up

Weight bearing aerobic exercises versus whole body vibration on bone mineral density post thyroidectomy

One of the health problems occurring post thyroidectomy is osteoporosis which has a greater impact on the patients' lives as it affects the strength and quality of bone and increases the fracture risk. This study was conducted to identify the beneficial therapeutic effect of weight bearing aerobic exercises and whole-body vibration training on bone mineral density post thyroidectomy and also to compare between their effects. In this study, forty-five patients of both sexes underwent thyroidectomy and had osteoporosis were included. Fifteen patients performed weight bearing aerobic exercises in addition to their routine medications and fifteen patients were trained on whole body vibration in addition to their routine medications, while remaining fifteen cases received only their routine medications. Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) is used to evaluate the bone mineral density before and after six months of treatment (28 weeks) for all groups. The mean values of BMD of lumbar spine and neck of femur in all groups were significantly increased. The percentages of bone mineral density improvement for lumbar spine and femoral neck in the weight bearing exercise group were 18.63% and 19.82%, in the whole-body vibration group were 22.17% and 29.82%, while in the control group were 7.47% and 3.63%. So, it can be concluded that the weight bearing aerobic exercises and WBV training have a therapeutic beneficial effect on improving the bone mineral density in patient underwent thyroidectomy, but the whole-body vibration was more effective than weight bearing aerobic exercises

Suboptimal correction of low anorectal anomalies: a possible cause for intractable constipation in children

Background Constipation is a common problem among patients following the repair of low anorectal anomalies. We present our experience in managing constipation in a group of these patients with reoperation to correct residual anterior anal misplacement.Patients and methods The study included pediatric patients presenting with significant constipation following the repair of low anorectal anomalies. Patients with evidence of residual anterior anal misplacement (either clinically, by means of MRI, or using electrical muscle stimulation) were offered a reoperation to bring their ani backward to an orthotropic position.Results Thirteen patients were included in the study between September 2009 and June 2015. Their ages ranged from 1.5 to 10 years. The primary anomaly was rectoperineal fistula in 10 (seven boys and three girls) and rectovestibular in three girls. Two types of reoperations were performed: a posterior anoplasty with posterior sphincterotomy (five cases), and a limited sagittal anorectoplasty (eight cases). Straining at defecation was relieved in all patients. Of the 13 patients, nine were relieved from their constipation (69%) and had regular bowel movements without medications. The remaining four (31%) showed partial improvement.Conclusion Among patients with low anorectal anomalies, suboptimal correction with residual anterior anal misplacement represents one correctable cause for persistence of constipation

Acaricidal activity of tea tree and lemon oil nanoemulsions against Rhipicephalus annulatus

Tick infestation is a serious problem in many countries since it has an impact on the health of animals used for food production and pets, and frequently affects humans. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the acaricidal effects of nanoemulsions of essential oils o

Role of interleukin-6 in diagnosis of pleural effusion

AbstractObjectivesTo determine the level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in both serum and pleural fluid in order to evaluate the diagnostic utility of IL-6 in differentiation between different types of pleural effusion.BackgroundPleural effusion is a relatively common clinical condition. It is often diagnostic dilemma for the physician. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) has multiple functions on various cells and tissues. It is often used as a marker for systemic activation of pro-inflammatory cytokines.MethodsThis study was conducted on 40 patients of pleural effusion, they were selected from Al-Mahalla Chest Hospital in the period between October 2012 and May 2013. All patients were subjected to detailed clinical history, thorough clinical examination, plain chest-X-ray (postero-anterior and lateral views), blood sample for: Complete blood picture (CBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), liver functions, renal functions and serum and pleural fluid (LDH, protein and IL-6) by ELISA.ResultsSerum and effusion IL-6 could differentiate between exudate transudate as it increased in exudate than transudate. In the present study there was higher concentration of IL-6 in the serum and pleural effusion of parapneumonic effusion than malignant and tuberculous exudative pleural effusion and higher concentration in malignant than tuberculous effusion.ConclusionEffusion IL-6 could be used to differentiate between exudate and transudate and serum IL-6 could be used as an alternative non invasive method for differentiation between exudates and transudate as there was a significant positive correlation between serum IL-6 and effusion IL-6

Inhibition Effect of Hydrazine-Derived Coumarin on a Mild Steel Surface in Hydrochloric acid

In this work, economy novel hydrazine-derived coumarin 4-(6-methylcoumarin)acetohydrazide (MCA) were synthesized, characterized, and tested as an inhibitor for the corrosion of a surface of mild steel in an acidic environment through weight loss and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. Results showed that the synthesized inhibitor can inhibit the corrosion of mild steel surface in a 1 M hydrochloric acid environment. The corrosion inhibition efficiency of MCA increases with increasing MCA concentration and decreases with increasing temperature. SEM analysis showed the formation of a film as a protective layer from MCA molecules on the surface of mild steel. Adsorption of the MCA molecules on the mild steel surface in the presence of hydrochloric acid environment was obeyed Langmuir isotherm. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to study the relationship between molecular structure and inhibition efficiency and they found in good agreement

Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior of Egyptian Medical Students Toward the Novel Coronavirus Disease-19: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: People in times of pandemics, crave after any medical field member (including medical students) to gain their knowledge and correct their behaviors. AIM: We aimed to assess medical students’ coronavirus disease (COVID)-19 related knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB). METHODS: The study is an exploratory cross-sectional study, conducted among medical students using an online survey. Medical students were classified according to their current academic year into either early year’s group (first 3 years in the medical school) or final year’s group (past 3 years in the medical school). RESULTS: A total of 2255 students completed the questionnaire. Regarding their COVID-19 related knowledge; 63.4% gave unsatisfactory responses (answered <75% of the questionnaire items correctly). Most of males (62.9%) and females (64.1%) gave unsatisfactory responses. CONCLUSION: Most of students had unsatisfactory responses of the current pandemic; however, the final year’s group had a significantly higher score in nearly all questionnaire (KAB) subsections than the early year’s group. The majority of both groups significantly believed that there are undeclared numbers in Egypt. Facebook and other platforms were the most common sources of information

Optimized D-α-tocopherol polyethylene glycol succinate/phospholipid self-assembled mixed micelles: A promising lipid-based nanoplatform for augmenting the antifungal activity of fluconazole

Fluconazole (FLZ) is the most widely used antifungal agent for treating cutaneous candidiasis. Although oral FLZ has been proved to be effective, the incidence of side effects necessitates the development of an effective formulation that could surpass the pitfalls associated with systemic availability. Accordingly, this research aimed at developing a self-assembled mixed micelles topical delivery system to enhance the topical delivery of the drug. Self-assembled mixed micelles were developed using D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate and phospholipids and optimized using Box-Behnken design. The optimized formulation with minimized size was then tested in vivo for the antifungal activity against C. albicans in immunocompromised mice. Treatment with the optimized formulation led to decreased peripheral erythema as well as lesions due to fungal infection in comparison to raw FLZ loaded gel. Therefore, the developed formulation was found to be a promising vehicle for the treatment of cutaneous candidiasis

Wound healing and antioxidant properties of <i>Launaea procumbens</i> supported by metabolomic profiling and molecular docking

Wounds adversely affect people’s quality of life and have psychological, social, and economic impacts. Herbal remedies of Launaea procumbens (LP) are used to treat wounds. In an excision wound model, topical application of LP significantly promoted wound closure (on day 14, LP-treated animals had the highest percentages of wound closure in comparison with the other groups, as the wound was entirely closed with a closure percentage of 100%, p < 0.05). Histological analysis revealed a considerable rise in the number of fibroblasts, the amount of collagen, and its cross-linking in LP-treated wounds. Gene expression patterns showed significant elevation of TGF-β levels (2.1-fold change after 7 days treatment and 2.7-fold change in 14 days treatment) and downregulation of the inflammatory TNF-α and IL-1β levels in LP-treated wounds. Regarding in vitro antioxidant activity, LP extract significantly diminished the formation of H(2)O(2) radical (IC(50) = 171.6 μg/mL) and scavenged the superoxide radical (IC(50) of 286.7 µg/mL), indicating antioxidant potential in a dose-dependent manner. Dereplication of the secondary metabolites using LC-HRMS resulted in the annotation of 16 metabolites. The identified compounds were docked against important wound-healing targets, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), collagen α-1, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). Among dereplicated compounds, luteolin 8-C-glucoside (orientin) demonstrated binding potential to four investigated targets (VEGF, interleukin 1β, TNF-α, and collagen α-1). To conclude, Launaea procumbens extract could be regarded as a promising topical therapy to promote wound healing in excisional wounds, and luteolin 8-C-glucoside (orientin), one of its constituents, is a potential wound-healing drug lead