The type Ic morphology of urinary calculi: an alert to primary hyperoxaluria? Experience with 43 Moroccan children

Primary hyperoxaluria is the most severe stone disease responsible for multiple stone recurrence and impairment of kidney function. It is a rare inherited disease with an autosomal transmission. Due to the high proportion of consanguineous marriages by comparison to other areas in the world, this pathology is more frequent in North Africa. Stones are made of calcium oxalate monohydrate, which is not unique to the disease and cannot help physicians for the diagnosis. By contrast, stone morphology may be a useful marker of the pathology. We report our experience based on 614 stones from Moroccan children analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and examined by stereomicroscopy for the determination of their morphological type. Our results show that 85 stones (13.8%) exhibit a type Ic morphology, strongly suggestive of the disease in children patients. It was confirmed in all subjects of a subgroup of 43 patients who benefited from urinary biochemical explorations revealing whewellite crystalluria and a very high oxalate to creatinine ratio

The type Ic morphology of urinary calculi: an alert to primary hyperoxaluria? Experience with 43 Moroccan children

Primary hyperoxaluria is the most severe stone disease responsible for multiple stone recurrence and impairment of kidney function. It is a rare inherited disease with an autosomal transmission. Due to the high proportion of consanguineous marriages by comparison to other areas in the world, this pathology is more frequent in North Africa. Stones are made of calcium oxalate monohydrate, which is not unique to the disease and cannot help physicians for the diagnosis. By contrast, stone morphology may be a useful marker of the pathology. We report our experience based on 614 stones from Moroccan children analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and examined by stereomicroscopy for the determination of their morphological type. Our results show that 85 stones (13.8%) exhibit a type Ic morphology, strongly suggestive of the disease in children patients. It was confirmed in all subjects of a subgroup of 43 patients who benefited from urinary biochemical explorations revealing whewellite crystalluria and a very high oxalate to creatinine ratio

A year of genomic surveillance reveals how the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic unfolded in Africa.

The progression of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in Africa has so far been heterogeneous, and the full impact is not yet well understood. In this study, we describe the genomic epidemiology using a dataset of 8746 genomes from 33 African countries and two overseas territories. We show that the epidemics in most countries were initiated by importations predominantly from Europe, which diminished after the early introduction of international travel restrictions. As the pandemic progressed, ongoing transmission in many countries and increasing mobility led to the emergence and spread within the continent of many variants of concern and interest, such as B.1.351, B.1.525, A.23.1, and C.1.1. Although distorted by low sampling numbers and blind spots, the findings highlight that Africa must not be left behind in the global pandemic response, otherwise it could become a source for new variants

Diagnosis and monitoring of phenylketonuria by LC-MS-MS in Morocco

Phenylketonuria is an inherited metabolic disease, of autosomal recessive transmission, due to the enzymatic deficit of phenylalanine hydroxylase, which transforms phenylalanine into tyrosine. The deficit leads to an increase in phenylalanine and its metabolite, phenylpyruvic acid which is responsible for the toxicity and symptomatology characterized by serious neurological disorders. Through this work, we wanted to show: 1) the profile of phenylalanine concentrations in a cohort of 52 Moroccan phenylketonuric patients diagnosed in our laboratory by Tandem Mass Spectrometry coupled with HPLC; 2) The value of biological monitoring in the nutritional management of phenylketonuric patients. The results showed that phenylketonuria diagnosed in Morocco is characterized by a predominance of classic and moderate phenylketonuria in both sexes with a median concentration = 1,107 μmol/L, 26 times higher than that observed in the control group (median value = 42 μmol/L - p < 0.0001). The phenylalanine and tyrosine concentrations of 33 phenylketonuric patients regularly monitored by our laboratory highlights the effectiveness of the hypoproteic diet with a marked improvement in psychomotor development, a significant regression in behavioral disorders and an encouraging overall development of children. Conclusion: phenylketonuria is a disease that would be frequent in Morocco but it is still diagnosed at the stage of severe mental retardation. A better management of these patients could be considered when setting up a nation-wide neonatal screening program

Un cas marocain d’érythrophagocytose blastique et LAL T de novo sans anomalie cytogénétique

L´érythrophagocytose blastique correspond à une hyperactivation des blastes. L´érythrophagocytose est retrouvée dans les hémopathies myéloïdes surtout avec la t (8;16). Dans ce travail nous présentons un cas exceptionnel d´érythrophagocytose blastique au cours d´une leucémie aigue lymphoblastique T sans anomalies cytogénétiques. A.Z âgée de 19 ans, l´examen à l´admission a trouvé un syndrome fébrile avec des vertiges et phosphènes, un syndrome tumoral avec une hypertrophie amygdalienne et gingivale. L´hémogramme a objectivé une hyperleucocytose (399,5 G/L), avec une anémie arégénérative (Hb: 9,3 g/dl) et thrombopénie (plaquettes: 40 G/L). Le myélogramme a montré 90% des blastes (MPO négative) avec des images d´érythrophagocytose blastique. L´immunophénotypage a confirmé une LAL T. L´analyse cytogénétique était normale. L´érythrophagocytose blastique dans une LAL T semblerait être une entité distincte nécessitant la précision de l´impact de ces images sur le diagnostic, le pronostic voir même le traitement des LAL T

Isolation and characterization of phosphate solubilizing StreptomycesStreptomyces sp. endemic from sugar beet fields of the Beni-Mellal region in Morocco

International audienceIn the course of our research, aimed at improving sugar beets phosphorus nutrition, we isolated and characterized $Streptomyces$ sp. strains, endemic from sugar beet fields of the Beni-Mellal region, which are able to use natural rock phosphate (RP) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) as sole phosphate sources. Ten $Streptomyces$ sp. isolates yielded a comparable biomass in the presence of these two insoluble phosphate sources, indicating that they were able to extract similar amount of phosphorus (P) from the latter for their own growth. Interestingly, five strains released soluble P in large excess from TCP in their culture broth whereas only two strains, BP, related to $Streptomyces\ bellus$ and BYC, related to $Streptomyces\ enissocaesilis$, released a higher or similar amount of soluble P from RP than from TCP, respectively. This indicated that the rate of P released from these insoluble phosphate sources exceeded its consumption rate for bacterial growth and that most strains solubilized TCP more efficiently than RP. Preliminary results suggested that the solubilization process of BYC, the most efficient RP and TCP solubilizing strain, involves both acidification of the medium and excretion of siderophores. Actinomycete strains possessing such interesting RP solubilizing abilities may constitute a novel kind of fertilizers beneficial for plant nutrition and more environmentally friendly than chemical fertilizers in current use

Single-Molecule Sequencing (PacBio) of the Staphylococcus capitis NRCS-A Clone Reveals the Basis of Multidrug Resistance and Adaptation to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Environment

International audienceThe multi-resistant Staphylococcus capitis clone NRCS-A has recently been described as a major pathogen causing nosocomial, late-onset sepsis (LOS) in preterm neonates worldwide. NRCS-A representatives exhibit an atypical antibiotic resistance profile. Here, the complete closed genome (chromosomal and plasmid sequences) of NRCS-A prototype strain CR01 and the draft genomes of three other clinical NRCS-A strains from Australia, Belgium and the United Kingdom are annotated and compared to available non-NRCS-A S. capitis genomes. Our goal was to delineate the uniqueness of the NRCS-A clone with respect to antibiotic resistance, virulence factors and mobile genetic elements. We identified 6 antimicrobial resistance genes, all carried by mobile genetic elements. Previously described virulence genes present in the NRCS-A genomes are shared with the six non-NRCS-A S. capitis genomes. Overall, 63 genes are specific to the NRCS-A lineage, including 28 genes located in the methicillin-resistance cassette SCCmec. Among the 35 remaining genes, 25 are of unknown function, and 9 correspond to an additional type I restriction modification system (n = 3), a cytosine methylation operon (n = 2), and a cluster of genes related to the biosynthesis of teichoic acids (n = 4). Interestingly, a tenth gene corresponds to a resistance determinant for nisin (nsr gene), a bacteriocin secreted by potential NRCS-A strain niche competitors in the gut microbiota. The genomic characteristics presented here emphasize the contribution of mobile genetic elements to the emergence of multidrug resistance in the S. capitis NRCS-A clone. No NRCS-A-specific known virulence determinant was detected, which does not support a role for virulence as a driving force of NRCS-A emergence in NICUs worldwide. However, the presence of a nisin resistance determinant on the NRCS-A chromosome, but not in other S. capitis strains and most coagulase-negative representatives, might confer a competitive advantage to NRCS-A strains during the early steps of gut colonization in neonates. This suggests that the striking adaptation of NRCS-A to the NICU environment might be related to its specific antimicrobial resistance and also to a possible enhanced ability to challenge competing bacteria in its ecological niche

Genome sequences of four Staphylococcus capitis NRCS-A isolates from geographically distant neonatal intensive care units

Staphylococcus capitis pulsotype NRCS-A was previously reported as a frequent cause of late-onset sepsis in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) worldwide. Here, we report the whole-genome shotgun sequences of four S. capitis pulsotype NCRS-A strains, CR03, CR04, CR05, and CR09, isolated from Belgium, Australia, the United Kingdom, and France, respectively.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe