The neurotoxic effect of Naja nubiae (Serpentes: Elapidae) venom from Sudan.

Background: Neurotoxicity is a common feature of elapid snake envenomation. There are limited studies on the toxicity of Naja nubiae venom, the Nubian spitting cobra, from north-east Africa.

Methods: We used the chick biventer cervicis nerve-muscle preparation to demonstrate the neurotoxic effect of N.

Effectiveness of Diode (810 nm) Laser in Periodontal Parameters and Reduction of Subgingival Bacterial Load in Periodontitis Patients.

Aim: This split-mouth randomized trial (RCT) aimed to assess the effect of diode laser on the clinical parameters in patients with periodontitis, compare the results with scaling and root planing (SRP) alone, and assess the implications of diode laser (DL) on plaque bacteria.

Materials And Methods: Seventeen periodontitis patients were randomly assigned into two equal groups based on the therapy delivered. Group I (control site) received just SRP at baseline, while group II (test site) received both SRP and DL irradiation.

Antileishmanial Activities of Medicinal Herbs and Phytochemicals In Vitro and In Vivo: An Update for the Years 2015 to 2021.

Leishmaniasis is one of the most neglected tropical diseases that present areal public health problems worldwide. Chemotherapy has several limitations such as toxic side effects, high costs, frequent relapses, the development of resistance, and the requirement for long-term treatment. Effective vaccines or drugs to prevent or cure the disease are not available yet.

Dipeptidyl peptidase III as a DNA marker to investigate epidemiology and taxonomy of Old World Leishmania species.

Background: Dipeptidyl peptidase III (DPPIII) member of M49 peptidase family is a zinc-dependent metallopeptidase that cleaves dipeptides sequentially from the N-terminus of its substrates. In Leishmania, DPPIII, was reported with other peptidases to play a significant role in parasites' growth and survival. In a previous study, we used a coding sequence annotated as DPPIII to develop and evaluate a PCR assay that is specific to dermotropic Old World (OW) Leishmania species.

Punica granatum peel extract as adjunct irrigation to nonsurgical treatment of chronic gingivitis.

Pomegranate is one of the most universally studied medicinal plants for its ethnomedical history, with several studies presenting the positive outcome of its use or its extracts in managing inflammation. The objective of the present trial was to investigate the efficiency of the traditionally used 5% of pomegranate peel extract in treating gingival inflammation. Herein, 34 chronic gingivitis patients were randomized in a 1:1 ratio for four weeks in a controlled, double-blind clinical trial to evaluate the effect of the adjunctive use of a pulsating jet irrigator containing 5% pomegranate peel extract solution to nonsurgical periodontal therapy against a placebo in managing these patients' condition.

Tuberculin reactivity in schoolchildren, Kassala State, Sudan.

Background: Tuberculin skin test (TST) is widely used for the assessment of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine efficacy and screening of latent TB infection (LTBI). Poor or no data are available on the reactivity of tuberculin in Kassala State. The aim of the present study was to assess the response to the BCG vaccine and to estimate the prevalence of LTBI and the annual rate annual risk of tuberculous infection (ARTI) among vaccinated school children using TST.

Plasmodium vivax cerebral malaria in an adult patient in Sudan.

Background: Plasmodium vivax infection is rising in sub-Saharan Africa, where Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for more than 90% of malaria cases. While P. vivax is identified as a major cause of severe and cerebral malaria in South east Asia, the Pacific and South America, most of the severe and cerebral cases in Africa were attributed to P.

Neutrophil elastase promotes infection interferon-β.

Visceral leishmaniasis is a deadly illness caused by that provokes liver and spleen inflammation and tissue destruction. In cutaneous leishmaniasis, the protein of , named inhibitor of serine peptidases (ISP) 2, inactivates neutrophil elastase (NE) present at the macrophage surface, resulting in blockade of TLR4 activation, prevention of TNF-α and IFN-β production, and parasite survival. We report poor intracellular growth of in macrophages from knockout mice for NE (), TLR4, or TLR2.

Impact of PYROXD1 deficiency on cellular respiration and correlations with genetic analyses of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy in Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Next-generation sequencing is commonly used to screen for pathogenic mutations in families with Mendelian disorders, but due to the pace of discoveries, gaps have widened for some diseases between genetic and pathophysiological knowledge. We recruited and analyzed 16 families with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) of Arab descent from Saudi Arabia and Sudan who did not have confirmed genetic diagnoses. The analysis included both traditional and next-generation sequencing approaches.

Testosterone, obesity, and waist circumference as determinants of metabolic syndrome in Saudi women.

Background: High serum total testosterone is associated with metabolic syndrome (MS). This study aimed to identify possible alterations in total testosterone and their relationship with plasma glucose, blood pressure, and serum lipid profile.

Methods: One hundred forty-two female subjects were selected to participate in this study, and they were recruited by consultant physicians from the Clinic and Medical Out-Patient, King Abdulaziz Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The effect of obesity and components of metabolic syndrome on leptin levels in Saudi women.

Background: Leptin levels are reported to be increased with excessive body fat and is a potential determinant of obesity and its complications. Our Objective is to evaluate the relationship between leptin levels and BMI, waist circumference and metabolic syndrome components in normal and obese females classified according to their BMI.

Subjects And Methods: A total of 136 female subjects aged between 20 and 60 years were recruited for the current study.

Plasma Levels of Interleukin-17, Interleukin-23, and Transforming Growth Factor-β in Sudanese Patients with Vitiligo: A Case-Control Study.

Background: Vitiligo is the most common pigmentary skin disorder. It is a multifactorial polygenic disease with epidermal melanocyte destruction. The cytokines profile found in vitiliginous patients was not fully elucidated.

Genotyping of Pulmonary Isolates from Sudan Using Spoligotyping.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem worldwide due to its high risk of person-to-person transmission, morbidity and mortality [1]. Sudan has a high burden of tuberculosis. Spoligotyping (spacer oligonucleotide typing) a rapid method for genotyping of using the principle of reverse hybridization.

Malaria risk mapping for control in the republic of Sudan.

Evidence shows that malaria risk maps are rarely tailored to address national control program ambitions. Here, we generate a malaria risk map adapted for malaria control in Sudan. Community Plasmodium falciparum parasite rate (PfPR) data from 2000 to 2010 were assembled and were standardized to 2-10 years of age (PfPR(2-10)).

Variable disease severity in Saudi Arabian and Sudanese families with c.3924 + 2 T > C mutation of LAMA2.

Background: Congenital muscular dystrophy type 1A is caused by mutations in the LAMA2 gene that encodes the laminin α2 chain, a component of the skeletal muscle extracellular matrix protein laminin-211. The clinical spectrum of the disease is more heterogeneous than previously thought, particularly in terms of motor achievement and disease progression. We investigated clinical findings and performed molecular genetic analysis in 3 families from Saudi Arabia and 1 from Sudan in whom congenital muscular dystrophy 1A was suspected based on homozygosity mapping and laminin α2 chain deficiency.

Design, development and evaluation of rK28-based point-of-care tests for improving rapid diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis.

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is diagnosed by microscopic confirmation of the parasite in bone marrow, spleen or lymph node aspirates. These procedures are unsuitable for rapid diagnosis of VL in field settings. The development of rK39-based rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) revolutionized diagnosis of VL by offering high sensitivity and specificity in detecting disease in the Indian subcontinent; however, these tests have been less reliable in the African subcontinent (sensitivity range of 75-85%, specificity of 70-92%).

Trypanosoma cf. varani in an imported ball python (Python reginus) from Ghana.

Peripheral blood from a ball python (Python reginus) imported from Ghana was cultured in Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly (BSK) medium for Borrelia spp. isolation, resulting in the prominent appearance of free, and clusters of, trypanosomes in a variety of morphological forms. The molecular phylogenetic characterization of these cultured trypanosomes, using the small subunit rDNA, indicated that this python was infected with a species closely related to Trypanosoma varani Wenyon, 1908, originally described in the Nile monitor lizard (Varanus niloticus) from Sudan.

A new complex homozygous large rearrangement of the PINK1 gene in a Sudanese family with early onset Parkinson's disease.

PARK2 and PINK1 gene mutations are involved in recessive early onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD). In order to determine the causative mutations in three affected sibs from a consanguineous Sudanese family with EOPD, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification was performed and revealed that the patients were homozygous for a deletion of PINK1 exons 4 to 8. Breakpoint analysis revealed a complex rearrangement combining a large deletion and the insertion of a sequence duplicated from the DDOST gene intron 2, located near the PINK1 gene.

Comparison of the molecular structure of the TaSP gene of Theileria annulata from Sudanese isolates.

The polymorphic region of the Theileria annulata surface protein (TaSP) was cloned and sequenced from different isolates of cattle and cell lines from different areas of Sudan. Amino acid sequence alignment revealed a high diversity showing amino acid and length polymorphism, both within and between parasite isolates. The generation of TaSP diversity may allow the evasion of host immunity by the parasite since TaSP is a highly antigenic parasite protein.

Infection of cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) with different wild-type measles viruses.

Both rhesus and cynomolgus macaques have been used as animal models for measles vaccination and immunopathogenesis studies. A number of studies have suggested that experimental measles virus (MV) infection induces more-characteristic clinical features in rhesus than in cynomolgus monkeys. In the present study, both macaque species were infected with two different wild-type MV strains and clinical, virological and immunological parameters were compared.

C-terminal titin deletions cause a novel early-onset myopathy with fatal cardiomyopathy.

Objective: The giant protein titin is essential for striated muscle development, structure, and elasticity. All titin mutations reported to date cause late-onset, dominant disorders involving either skeletal muscle or the heart. Our aim was to delineate the phenotype and determine the genetic defects in two consanguineous families with an early-onset, recessive muscle and cardiac disorder.

Epidemiology of Theileria annulata infection of dairy cattle in the Sudan using molecular techniques.

This study provides the first epidemiological data regarding T. annulata infection of diary cattle in Sudan using a combination of routine microscopic examination and two molecular techniques, PCR and reverse line blot (RLB).