Monitoring of CD4+ T-cell counts in HIV infected patients on Arthrospira platensis supplement in Kisumu, Kenya

Consumption of natural products with high nutritional value can improve nutritional and immune status of HIV patients. Arthrospira platensis, is an alga that grows naturally in some tropical lakes. It is rich in nutritional contents and anti-oxidants. This study investigated whether use of Arthrospira platensis by HIV positive adults affected their CD4+ T-cell counts. This was a prospective paired study design with two independent groups: the study group and a control group. The findings of individual patients before and after intervention were also paired. Patients with CD4+ T-cell counts above 250 cells/1l were enrolled in Nyanza Provincial Hospital, Kenya. Patients in the study group used A. platensis while those in the control group used the standard multi-vitamin supplements. Fifty-eight patients completed the study [28 in A. platensis (study) group and 30 in multivitamin (control) group]. The mean CD4+ T-cell counts among patients in the study group increased from 485 ± 163 to 516 ± 181 cells/1l (p = 0.110) while in the multivitamin group they declined from 555 ± 221 to 472 ± 174 cells/1l (p = 0.001). It was concluded that A. platensis increased CD4+ T-cell counts in HIV infected adults and it was well tolerated at a maximum dry dose of 2g/day when used for 1-6 months

Body composition assessment among adults in Thika, Kiambu county, Kenya

Background: Research has shown that body composition is directly related to health. Altered body composition, can greatly increase the risks of conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis fosters early detection of an improper balance in the body composition, which allows for earlier intervention and prevention.Methods: This was a cross sectional analysis of body composition for adults who volunteered to be screened during a Nutrition week in Kiambu County, Kenya. A total of 301 adults were included in the assessment. Body Mass Index (BMI) and Body composition (body fat %, bone mass, muscle mass, visceral fat and water %) were measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis.Results: The age of the participants ranged from 18-99 years (mean 42.19±16.57 years). Most of the participants were males (53.5%). More than half (53.2%) of the participants had a poor BMI, 37.2% had high total body fat percentage, 12.6% had excess levels of visceral fat and 26.6% had poor water hydration status. Age (OR=0.095; p value <0.001; CI 0.033-0272) and visceral fat (r=0.74; p value <0.001) were significantly associated with the BMI. Females had a significantly higher BMI (P <0.001). Visceral fat was also positively correlated with age: r=0.74; P value <0.001.Conclusions: Sex, age and BMI were important determinants of body composition. Increased physical activity, appropriate dietary practices are crucial in maintaining a healthy BMI and body composition. For timely intervention regular nutrition screening should be promoted among different populations

On Quasi-invertibility and Quasi-similarity of Operators in Hilbert Space.

In this paper we show that if two operators A and B are quasi-invertible then AB and BA are also quasi-similar. We also show that if two operators and are isometric is consistent in invertibility under further hypothesis. AMS subject classification: 47B47, 47A30, 47B20 Keywords and phrases: Quasi-similarity, quasi-affinity and consistent in invertibility

ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF CREDIT AND PERFORMANCE OF CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETIES IN KENYA: A CASE STUDY OF UKRISTO NA UFANISI WA ANGLICANA SACCO LTD IN DAGORETTI

The study is focused on investigating the impact of alternative credit financing to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The accessibility to funds and the cost of raising them have remained the limiting issue in capitalization requirements leading to premature collapse of the enterprises soon after they were established. The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are not exceptions to this and their performance heavily depend on financing externally. The SMEs depend internally on family sources of capital and are relatively small. Members with common bond come together and join hands to form quasi-bank institution – (one of the basic principle of cooperative savings and credit movement world over is the belief in cooperation and mutual self-help group for the uplifting the members standard of living through savings mobilization. Finance mobilized through savings and credit societies, help members to build up the capital they use through local arrangements to finance their own social and economic developments. Savings and credit cooperatives societies (SACCOs) accept monthly payments for shares from which members borrow amount equivalent to their savings and co-guarantee each other. High cost of borrowing for SMEs keeps them away from banks which inhibit further growth and performance. The Kenya Government has tried to arrest these constraints by establishing the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) to oversee SMEs through Saving and credit societies have accessible credit facilities more easily through the establishment of FOSA (front office services agencies) in SACCOs. Loans are now available through savings and group credit facilities where members co-guarantee each other. The SASRA have improved the SACCO management and information availability to their clients. The SMEs have benefitted from SACCOs in a number of ways such as investment, asset financing, working capital and savings mobilization and their performance may have greatly improved.

Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors Drug Resistance Mutations in Drug-Naive HIV Type 1 Positive Kenyan Individuals

Objective: To evaluate the extent of HIV-1 drug resistance among drug na&#239;ve Kenyan individuals.Design: Cross-sectional study.Setting: Kenya Medical Research Institute HIV laboratory Nairobi, Kenya.Subjects: A total of seventy eight HIV-1 positive drug na&#239;ve subjects randomised from five Kenyan provincial hospitals between April and June 2004.Results: A major non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase (NNRTI) an associated mutation was found in one patient (1.3%). NNRTI associated resistance mutations were present at amino acid codon sites G98A (2.56%); K103E (1.3%) and L100F (3.57%) prevalences. Baseline resistance may compromise the response to standard NNRTI-based first-line ART in 1.3 % of the study subjects.Conclusion: This indicates in general, that drug resistance among HIV-1 positive drug na&#239;ve individual is at low thresholds (1.3%) but the problem could be more serious than reported here. Continuous resistance monitoring is therefore warranted to maintain individual and population-level ART effectiveness

Effects of Ethanolic and Aqueous Extract of Morus alba Leaves on Blood Glucose and Cholesterol Levels in Experimental Rabbits

There has been an increase in cases of high cholesterol and high blood pressure in people worldwide. This is due to poor diets consisting of high processed sugar, fats and sugar content, as well as lifestyle that encourage little physical exercise. This study investigated the effects of ethanolic extract and aqueous extract of Morus alba leaves on blood glucose, cholesterol levels on twelve randomly selected rabbits which were fed on commercial rabbit pellets. The weights of rabbits were also analyzed to determine if they were affected by M. alba leaf extract. The rabbits were divided into four groups, Group I (Control) was not administered with any ethanolic extract of M. alba leaves, Group II was administered with ethanolic crude extract of M. alba leaves at a dose of 1ml/kg, Group III were administered with the normal saline dilution plus ethanolic crude extract of M. alba leaves and Group IV were administered with aqueous extract of M. alba. Oral administration of the extract was done for two consecutive days per week. The rabbit’s weight, cholesterol and blood sugar was monitored every week during the study duration. The results indicates that the control increased the most weight (394.67±75.23g) while the rabbits treated with the aqueous extract increased the least (246.67±26.57g). For the control, cholesterol and blood glucose levels increased during the 8 weeks of study while the other groups cholesterol and blood glucose levels decreased. The rabbits treated with normal saline plus ethanolic extract had the most significant decrease in cholesterol levels (41.34±4.19mg/dl) while the rabbits treated with aqueous extract decreased the least (15.33±1.49mg/dl). The rabbits treated with the aqueous extract had the most significant decrease in blood glucose levels (8±1.93mg/dl) while the rabbits treated with the normal saline plus ethanolic extract decreased the least (4.03±0.79mg/dl). There is a notable difference in the weights (ANOVA, F2.95, 28(3) =6.01, P=0.05), cholesterol levels (ANOVA, F2.95, 28(3) =10.79, P=0.05) and blood glucose levels (ANOVA, F2.95, 28(3) =33.76, P=0.05) of the four groups of the experimental rabbits after the eight weeks of treatment. Keywords: Morus alba, aqueous, cholesterol, ethanolic, extract

Worm Recovery and Pathology in the Olive baboon, Papio anubis, Immunized Against Schistosoma mansoni with Snail Soluble Proteins

Schistosomiasis is estimated to infect over 200 million people worldwide. Chemotherapy remains the major means of intervention but has the challenge of rapid re-infection, high cost and risk of drug resistance. A vaccine would have a long term effect and complement chemotherapy but none is in the market. Pilot studies in mice model showed that two proteins derived from Biomphalaria pfeifferri RT (soluble proteins from the rest of snail tissue) and DG (soluble proteins from the digestive gland) were protective against S. mansoni in terms of worm reduction and reduced pathology. Both met the World Health Organization criteria of over 40% protection. This study was done to investigate the efficacy of DG and RT in olive baboons challenged with Schistosoma mansoni. Baboons were in three groups: DG, RT and IC (infected control). DG and RT were immunized and boosted twice with their specific soluble snail antigens in Montanide at weeks 0, 3 and 6. They were challenged 2 weeks post final booster with 600 Schistosoma mansoni cercariae. DG had significant worm reduction of 11.4%. It had least gross pathology and histopathology. DG offered better protection against S. mansoni in baboon than RT, although lower than in mouse model. Keywords: Schistosoma mansoni, Biomphalaria pfeifferi, Snail soluble protein, immunizatio

Plasmodium knowlesi Ligand-receptor Process in Baboon (Papio anubis) Placenta

Pregnancy associated malaria poses many risks to both women and their infants. It is characterized by the accumulation of infected erythrocytes in the intervillous spaces of the placenta leading to adverse reactions. Studies using the P. knowlesi-Olive baboon model of pregnancy malaria have demonstrated this phenomenon though the mechanisms and molecules involved are not known. This study sought to identify the ligands and receptor molecules that permit accumulation of infected erythrocytes in the placenta of P. knowlesi infected Olive baboons and to further test placental isolates for adhesion to purified receptors. Sequences of known Plasmodium erythrocyte binding antigens and human placental receptors were BLASTed against the genome of P. knowlesi and P. anubis respectively. Hits generated were analysed and characterized to determine the prospective ligands and receptors in P. knowlesi and P. anubis respectively. Also, four adult female baboons (P. anubis) were infected with P. knowlesi parasites and their placentas sampled. Infected erythrocytes isolated from these placentas were tested for binding against purified receptors. We identified Predicted CSPG 4 partial and Predicted HAPLN 1 as the putative receptor molecules in the Olive baboon. Further, the P. knowlesi erythrocyte binding proteins (EBP-alpha, EBP-beta and EBP-gamma) matched closely to the placental P. falciparum ligand Var2csa. However, static binding assays with P. knowlesi infected erythrocytes did not show any binding to purified receptors. This study has identified and proposed receptors and ligands involved in the adherence process in P. knowlesi infected Olive baboons during pregnancy. Keywords: Plasmodium knowlesi, Olive baboon, receptor, ligand, malaria, pregnanc

Mouse cytokine profile skewed towards Th2 in pregnancy during infection with Brucella abortus S19 strain

The two classes of cytokines Th1 and Th2 determine the type of immune response elicited. The Th2 immune response is associated with successful pregnancy. Brucellosis is an intracellular bacterium that elicits the Th1 response and is known to cause spontaneous abortion in mammalian species. This study sought to determine if Brucella infection causes spontaneous abortion by causing the circulating cytokine profile be Th1 dominant during pregnancy. Forty-eight Swiss white mice were used in this murine model and the S19 strain of Brucella abortus was used in as the infective agent. Pregnant mice in the test group were injected intraperitoneally with 105-8 CFU of Brucella and cytokine profile evaluated over the three trimesters of pregnancy. Pregnant mice in the control group were left to go through normal pregnancy and their cytokine profile evaluated over the three trimesters of pregnancy. Cytokines in serum samples were analyzed by Cytometric Bead Array. The data was analyzed using the Paired T- test and