Diagnostic performance of several biomarkers for identification of cases of non-communicable diseases among Central Africans.

Background: This study determined the diagnostic performance of new biomarkers for a composite diagnosis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among Central Africans.

Methods: This case-control study was conducted at LOMO Medical Centre, Kinshasa, DR Congo (DRC) between January - December, 2008. The cases comprised 226 participants with concurrent presence of at least 2 or more of NCDs.

The protective effect of phaseolus vulgaris on cataract in type 2 diabetes: a profitable hypothesis.

The pathophysiology of major ocular complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among Bantu is not well understood. Several studies have been conducted to determine the basic reasons of visual deficiencies (VD) (blindness, visual impairment, and ocular eye diseases) in T2DM among Bantu from Central Africa. The quality of dietary intake was assessed in patients along with other ophthalmological assessments for diabetic retinopathy, cataract, glaucoma, and macular edema.

Oxidative stress-elevated high gamma glutamyl transferase levels, and aging, intake of tropical food plants, migration and visual disability in Central Africans.

Aim: To investigate the independent pathogenic role of high serum gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) levels, sociodemographic data, dietary and environmental risk factors for visual disability (VD).

Methods: This was a case-control study, run in 200 black Congolese patients managed in Saint Joseph Hospital Ophthalmology Division from Kinshasa town. Logistic regression model was used to identify determinants of VD (n=58) among sex, age, cigarette smoking, alcohol abuse, rural-urban migration, education levels, aging ≥60 years, intake of red Beans, Safou fruit and Taro leaves, lipid profile, residence, socioeconomic status, and GGT.

Effects of biomarkers of oxidative stress damage on prevalence and severity of visual disability among black Central Africans.

Background: Because of the demographic transition, lifestyle changes, urbanization, and nutrition transition, Central Africans are at higher risk of ocular diseases associated with oxidative stress and visual disability. This study aimed to estimate the normal values of oxidant status defined by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL), 8-Isoprostane and 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and to determine their pathogenic role in the prevalence and the severity of visual disability among these black Africans.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, run in a case-control study randomly selected from Kinshasa province, DR Congo.