Publications by authors named "Rosemary Banda"

Objectives: Glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2) is a 33 amino acid peptide hormone released from enteroendocrine L-cells following nutrient ingestion. It has been shown to exert trophic effects on the gut. We set out to measure GLP-2 concentrations in blood in children with diarrhoea and malnutrition.

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Background: Environmental enteropathy (EE) refers to villus blunting, reduced absorption, and microbial translocation in children and adults in tropical or deprived residential areas. In previous work we observed an effect of micronutrients on villus height (VH).

Objective: We aimed to determine, in a randomized controlled trial, if amino acid (AA) or multiple micronutrient (MM) supplementation can improve intestinal structure or barrier dysfunction in Zambian adults with EE.

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Introduction: Environmental enteropathy (EE) is associated with growth failure, micronutrient malabsorption and impaired responses to oral vaccines. We set out to define cellular mechanisms of impaired barrier function in EE and explore protective mechanisms.

Methods: We studied 49 adults with environmental enteropathy in Lusaka, Zambia using confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE); histology, immunohistochemistry and mRNA sequencing of small intestinal biopsies; and correlated these with plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and a zinc uptake test.

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Background: While HIV has had a major impact on health care in southern Africa, there are few data on its impact on acute malnutrition in children in the community. We report an analysis of outcomes in a large programme of community management of acute malnutrition in the south of Lusaka.

Programme Activities And Analysis: Over 3 years, 68,707 assessments for undernutrition were conducted house-to-house, and children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) or moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) were enrolled into either Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP) or Supplementary Feeding Programme (SFP) respectively.

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Background: Complex biomedical research can lead to disquiet in communities with limited exposure to scientific discussions, leading to rumours or to high drop-out rates. We set out to test an intervention designed to address apprehensions commonly encountered in a community where literacy is uncommon, and where complex biomedical research has been conducted for over a decade. We aimed to determine if it could improve the validity of consent.

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