Prevalence and factors associated to gestational diabetes mellitus among pregnant women in Libreville: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: mainly occurring in low and middle income countries, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) represents 84% of hyperglycemia during pregnancy throughout the world. Moreover, being black is a risk factor to develop the disease. Our objective was to determine the prevalence and the associated factors of GDM in Libreville (Gabon).

Plasmatic neuroglobin during the primitive open-angle glaucoma.

Objective: Elucidate the relation between neuroglobin and the primitive open-angle glaucoma.

Patients And Methods: This cross-sectional case-control study involved 64 patients with primitive open-angle glaucoma on 2 eyes and 64 control subjects. Glaucoma was classified as early, moderate or severe according to ophthalmological examination.

[Lipid, lipoproteins and atherogenesis profiles in sickle cell disease among Central African patients].

Lipid and lipopproteins disorders are well established in sera from sickle cell disease (SCD) patients out of Central Africa. The present case-control study was conducted to compare serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), HDL-C, triglycerides (TG), LDL-C and TC/HDL-C ratio (atherogenic index) from SCD homozygotes (SS) in steady state, SCD heterozygotes (AS) and controls (AA) in Brazzaville, Congo. Significant reductions of TC and LDL-C vs.

[Profile of immunoglobulins A, G, and M during breast milk maturation in a tropical area (Gabon)].

Objectives: To study the maturation of breast milk by the course of immunoglobulins A, G and M during the first three weeks of breast feeding.

Material And Methods: This longitudinal and prospective survey took place from August to October, 2007, in Libreville, the capital of Gabon. The population comprised women with no significant medical history who had given birth in the obstetrics department of Center Hospital of Libreville.

Genetic and biochemical analyses of sensor kinase A in Bacillus subtilis sporulation.

Temporal and spatial regulation of gene expression during endospore formation in Bacillus subtilis prompted us to investigate the molecular mechanisms that coordinate the phosphorelay. We targeted KinA for random mutagenesis. In addition, we constructed KinA-GFP transcriptional fusions for verification, via fluorescence.

[Plasma and erythrocyte membrane phospholipids in children with Plasmodium falciparum malaria: relation to blood parasite counts and lactate levels].

Background: Plasmodium falciparum infection modifies the distribution of phospholipids on both sides of the erythrocyte-plasma membrane. We sought to understand the action of the parasite on both plasma and membrane phospholipids and their relation to parasite counts in the blood.

Patients And Methods: We conducted this study from 1 February through 30 June 2007 in the Malaria Clinical Research Unit of the Libreville General Hospital Centre, measuring phospholipids in plasma and erythrocyte membranes of children affected by P.

[Vitamin A in Gabonese children not receiving supplements: relation to ocular and nutritional diseases].

To define vitamin A status in Gabonese children before the supplementation campaigns by UNICEF and the Gabonese Ministry of Health. We conducted an epidemiological, clinical and laboratory study at two of the main child health centers of Libreville and included 150 children aged from 0 to 156 months. We assessed their nutritional and ophthalmological status, their consumption of food rich in vitamin A and their blood levels of vitamin A (retinol).

[Fetal distress: Information provided by lactate levels and antioxidant status, compared with the Apgar score].

The multitude of criteria used to assess fetal distress and the subjective character of the Apgar score led us to compare the information it provides with that from measurements of lactate and two principal antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx). We measured plasma lactates, SOD, and GPX from the umbilical cord blood of live-born children whose mothers had had at least three prenatal consultations. The correlation of these measurements with the 5-minute Apgar score was tested with the Spearman correlation coefficient.

Metabolic complications of severe malaria.

Metabolic complications of malaria are increasingly recognized as contributing to severe and fatal malaria. Disorders of carbohydrate metabolism, including hypoglycaemia and lactic acidosis, are amongst the most important markers of disease severity both in adults and children infected with Plasmodium falciparum. Amino acid and lipid metabolism are also altered by malaria.

Cortisol and susceptibility to malaria during pregnancy.

We measured cortisol and prolactin concentrations in the peripheral venous blood of 23 non-pregnant and 59 pregnant Gabonese women from the second trimester of pregnancy until delivery. Cortisol concentrations were significantly higher in primigravidae women than in multigravidae women between 20 and 25 weeks' gestational age (166 vs. 132 ng/ml, respectively), between 28 and 37 weeks (226 vs.

Severe falciparum malaria in Gabonese children: clinical and laboratory features.

Background: Malaria continues to claim one to two million lives a year, mainly those of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Reduction in mortality depends, in part, on improving the quality of hospital care, the training of healthcare workers and improvements in public health. This study examined the prognostic indicators of severe falciparum malaria in Gabonese children.

Depressed natural killer cell cytotoxicity against Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes during first pregnancies.

We measured natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and cortisol and prolactin concentrations in peripheral venous blood samples obtained from pregnant Gabonese women at the time of delivery. The NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity against Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes in vitro was lower in samples obtained from primiparous women than in samples obtained from multiparous women; cortisol concentrations were significantly higher in primiparous women than in multiparous women, and prolactin concentrations were significantly lower. The highest cortisol concentrations were found in the plasma of P.

Acaricidal activity of Uvaria versicolor and Uvaria Klaineana (Annonaceae).

Three Uvaria species, namely U. klaineana, U. mocoli and U.

The impact of malaria on common lipid parameters.

No data are available in the literature to indicate whether low-level Plasmodium falciparum infections induce lipid parameter changes. We hypothesized that low-level P. falciparum infections induce significant changes in common lipid parameters.

Klaivanolide, an antiprotozoal lactone from Uvaria klaineana.

Bioguided-fractionation of a CH(2)Cl(2) extract of the stems of Uvaria klaineana (Annonaceae) led to isolation of klaivanolide, a novel bisunsaturated 7-membered lactone (5-acetoxy-7-benzoyloxymethyl-7H-oxepin-2-one), together with benzyl benzoate. Klaivanolide showed potent in vitro antileishmanial activity against both sensitive and amphotericin B-resistant promastigote forms of Leishmania donovani with IC(50) values of 1.75 and 3.

Plasma glutamine and glutamate concentrations in Gabonese children with Plasmodium falciparum infection.

Background: Low plasma glutamine levels in critical illness, neonates and burns patients are associated with poor outcome and increased risk of intercurrent infection.

Aim: To investigate the relationship between plasma glutamine/glutamate levels and severity/outcome of malaria.

Design: Two-hospital prospective study, with both febrile and healthy controls.

Antiplasmodial activity of Uvaria klaineana.

Crude extracts of Uvaria klaineana Engler and Diels (Annonaceae) stems showed in vitro activity against chloroquine-resistant K1 strain of Plasmodium falciparum. The most active extract was the basic dichloromethane extract containing crude alkaloids (IC50 = 3.55 microg/mL).

Comparison of methods for the rapid laboratory assessment of children with malaria.

Rapid diagnosis and accurate quantification of Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia are important for the management of malaria. The assessment of disease severity also depends on evaluation of metabolic indexes such as blood glucose and lactate concentrations. Here we describe an accurate and rapid alternative to conventional thick film examination (Lambaréné method).

Recent advances in the fight against leishmaniasis with natural products.

The active compounds obtained from some medicinal plants used traditionally worldwide for the treatment of leishmaniasis are reviewed. Among these active molecules, described in recent literature are quinoline alkaloids such as alkyl-2 quinoline and aryl-2 quinoline from Galipea longiflora, isoquinoline alkaloids such as isoguattouregidine from Guatteria foliosa, indole alkaloids such as conodurine and gabunine from Pescheiera van heurkii, terpenes such as jatrogrossidione from Jatropha grossidentata, acetogenins such as senegalene from Annona senegalensis and lignans such as (+)nyasol from Asparagus africanus. Other natural compounds with antileishmanial activity are coumarins, chalcones, lactones, tetralones and saponins.

[Selection criteria for the establishment of reference values in tropical zones. Application to specific proteins: C-reactive protein, haptoglobin, transferrin in gabonese children].

About 220 children (110 boys and 110 girls) aged 18 months to 10 years, 65.9% have been selected from anamnesis, clinical, and biological criteria to produce reference values on specific proteins dependent inflammatory, anemia and hemolysis (C-reactive protein = CRP; Transferrin = TRF and Haptoglobin: HPT). Specimens have been analysed by Nephelometric immuno-chemical method.

[Types of sugar diabetes encountered in internal medicine in Gabon].

In the 108 patients with diabetes (75 men and 33 women between the ages of 15 and 86 years) hospitalized in the Internal Medicine Department of the Libreville Hospital Center between January 1, 1989 and December 31, 1991, 53 were easily classified, 12 being due to alcohol-induced chronic calcific pancreatitis, two to insulin-dependent diabetes, and 39 to non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Fifty-five patients treated with insulin were not immediately classifiable including 11 who were obese and probably should not have required insulin. In the remaining 44 patients who were not overweight, the youngest often presented features comparable to those observed in patients with chronic calcific pancreatitis except with regard to calcification.

[Lipid profile during specific malaria therapy in Gabonese children].

We report specific dyslipidemia in Gabonese children aged 18 months to 4 years old treated with Halfan for malaria. This is observed in addition to the hypoglycemia typically associated with malaria. C-HDL (high density lipoprotein) fell on day 0 (D0), then increased during the treatment.