I Polymorphism in Sickle Cell Disease in North Morocco.

Sickle cell disease is one of the most common severe monogenic disorders in the world. The -158 I polymorphism (C>T) of the γ-globin gene promoter is known to be associated with increased expression of the γ-globin gene, thus, higher production of Hb F and lesser clinical severity. This study aims to determine the frequency of the I polymorphism and its association with Hb F levels as a modulating factor of sickle cell disease severity in north Moroccan patients.

Hemoglobinopathies in the North of Morocco: Consanguinity Pilot Study.

Consanguinity is a social behavior characterized by the arrangement of marriages between relatives. It coincides generally with the geographic distribution of recessive genetic diseases as it increases the likelihood of homozygosis and, consequently, the incidence of their pathologies in the population. In this pilot study, we assess the effect of inbreeding on the burden of hemoglobinopathies in Northern Morocco.

Alpha-Thalassemia in North Morocco: Prevalence and Molecular Spectrum.

Unlike the other hemoglobinopathies, few researches have been published concerning -thalassemia in Morocco. The epidemiological features and the mutation spectrum of this disease are still unknown. This regional newborn screening is the first to study -thalassemia in the north of Morocco.

Feeding a protective hydrolysed casein diet to young diabetic-prone BB rats affects oxidation of L[U-14C]glutamine in islets and Peyer's patches, reduces abnormally high mitotic activity in mesenteric lymph nodes, enhances islet insulin and tends to normalize NO production.

The present studies were undertaken to examine concomitant diet-induced changes in pancreatic islets and cells of the gut immune system of diabetes-prone BB rats in the period before classic insulitis. Diabetes-prone (BBdp) and control nondiabetes prone (BBc) BB rats were fed for approximately 17 days either a mainly plant-based standard laboratory rodent diet associated with high diabetes frequency, NIH-07 (NIH) or a protective semipurified diet with hydrolyzed casein (HC) as the amino acid source. By about 7 weeks of age, NIH-fed BBdp rats had lower plasma insulin and insulin/glucose ratio, lower insulin content of isolated islets, lower basal levels of NO but higher responsiveness of NO production to IL-1beta in cultured islets, and higher Con A response and biosynthetic activities in mesenteric lymphocytes than control rats fed the same diet.

Labeling of pancreatic glycogen by D-[U-14c]glucose in hyperglycemic rats.

Under conditions of sustained hyperglycemia, glycogen accumulates in pancreatic islets, but not so in acinar pancreatic cells. We investigated whether advantage could be taken of such a situation in the perspective of the noninvasive imaging of the endocrine pancreas. Control rats or animals injected with streptozotocin (STZ) were infused with solutions of D-glucose mixed with a tracer amount of D-[U-14C]glucose, and the radioactive glycogen content of both liver and pancreas was then measured.