Factors associated with non-response and nutrional status of non-responders at 6-month post-discharge: a cohort study nested in a MUAC-based nutrition programme for acutely malnourished children in Mirriah, Niger.

Background: In the treatment of acute malnutrition (AM), non-response is considered a treatment failure for not meeting recovery criteria within a therapeutic window of 12-16 weeks, but this category of children is misunderstood. As current research emphasizes ways to simplify and optimize treatment protocols, non-response emerges as a new issue to enhance program efficiency.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted from 2019 to 2020 at two health centres in Mirriah, Niger among children aged 6-59 months with uncomplicated AM treated under the Optimising treatment for Acute MAlnutrition (OptiMA) protocol.

Presentation and Outcomes of Lassa Fever in Children in Nigeria: A Prospective Cohort Study (LASCOPE).

Background: Data on the presentation, management, and outcomes of Lassa fever (LF) in children are limited.

Methods: Description of the clinical and biological features, treatment, and outcomes of reverse transcriptase and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed LF in children aged under 15, enrolled in the LASsa fever clinical COurse and Prognostic factors in an Epidemic context (LASCOPE) prospective cohort study in Nigeria between April 2018 and February 2023.

Results: One hundred twenty-four children (aged under 12 months: 19; over 12 months: 105) were hospitalized with RT-PCR-confirmed LF.

Treatment outcomes and associated factors for hospitalization of children treated for acute malnutrition under the OptiMA simplified protocol: a prospective observational cohort in rural Niger.

Introduction: Globally, access to treatment for severe and moderate acute malnutrition is very low, in part because different protocols and products are used in separate programs. New approaches, defining acute malnutrition (AM) as mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) < 125 mm or oedema, are being investigated to compare effectiveness to current programs. Optimizing Malnutrition treatment (OptiMA) is one such strategy that treats AM with one product - ready-to-use therapeutic food, or RUTF - at reduced dosage as the child improves.

Simplifying and optimising management of acute malnutrition in children aged 6 to 59 months: study protocol for a 3 arms community-based individually randomised controlled trial in decentralised Niger.

Background: Simplified approaches of acute malnutrition (AM) treatment have been conducted over the past 5 years intending to unify processes and increase coverage among children aged 6 to 59 months without medical complication. The Optimsing treatment for Acute Malnutrition (OptiMA) and the Combined Protocol for Acute Malnutrition Study (ComPAS) are mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC)-based approaches treating children with MUAC < 125 mm or oedema with one sole product-ready-to-use therapeutic food-at a gradually tapered doses. This trial aims to compare the OptiMA and ComPAS strategies to the standard nutritional protocol of Niger assessed by a favourable outcome in the treatment of uncomplicated AM at 6 months post-randomisation and in terms of recovery rate after treatment of uncomplicated SAM (WHZ < - 3 or MUAC < 115mm or oedema) and among the most vulnerable children (MUAC < 115mm or oedema).

Lassa fever outcomes and prognostic factors in Nigeria (LASCOPE): a prospective cohort study.

Background: Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever endemic in parts of west Africa. New treatments are needed to decrease mortality, but pretrial reference data on the disease characteristics are scarce. We aimed to document baseline characteristics and outcomes for patients hospitalised with Lassa fever in Nigeria.

New approach to simplifying and optimising acute malnutrition treatment in children aged 6-59 months: the OptiMA single-arm proof-of-concept trial in Burkina Faso.

The Optimising treatment for acute MAlnutrition (OptiMA) strategy trains mothers to use mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) bracelets for screening and targets treatment to children with MUAC < 125 mm or oedema with one therapeutic food at a gradually reduced dose. This study seeks to determine whether OptiMA conforms to SPHERE standards (recovery rate > 75 %). A single-arm proof-of-concept trial was conducted in 2017 in Yako district, Burkina Faso including children aged 6-59 months in outpatient health centres with MUAC < 125 mm or oedema.

Coronary artery disease in black African patients with diabetes: Insights from an Ivorian cardiac catheterization centre.

Background: Coronary angiography data are scarce for black patients with diabetes.

Aim: To assess coronary angiography findings in patients with diabetes at the Abidjan Heart Institute.

Methods: This observational cross-sectional survey was conducted between 1 April 2010 and 31 December 2014.

Twenty-Year Evolution of Hepatitis B Virus and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevalence and Incidence in Voluntary Blood Donors in Côte d'Ivoire.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) share common risk factors. The parallel description of their frequency over time may help capture their similarities and differences.

Methods: Using data from the National Transfusion Center of Abidjan, we estimated the following over a 20-year period: (1) the prevalence of HIV and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity at first contact; and (2) the incidence of HIV and HBsAg seroconversion in negative first-time blood donors.

Moringa olifeira Lam. Stimulates Activation of the Insulin-Dependent Akt Pathway. Antidiabetic Effect in a Diet-Induced Obesity (DIO) Mouse Model.

We investigated the antidiabetic effect of Moringa olifeira Lam. in a diet-induced obesity (DIO) mouse model. Six mice were randomly selected as normal controls.

Moringa oleifera-rich diet and T cell calcium signaling in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Moringa oleifera is a plant whose fruits, roots and leaves have been advocated for traditional medicinal uses. The physicochemical analysis shows that Moringa oleifera contains more dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) than saturated fatty acids (SFA). The consumption of an experimental diet enriched with Moringa oleifera extracts lowered blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), but not in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats as compared to rats fed an unsupplemented control diet.

Lack of indinavir-associated nephrological complications in HIV-infected adults (predominantly women) with high indinavir plasma concentration in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

To report the tolerance of indinavir combined with ritonavir (IDV/r 800/100 mg) twice daily (bid) in sub-Saharan African HIV-infected adults. HAART-naives patients started zidovudine plus lamivudine plus IDV/r 800/100 mg bid. Follow-up included standardized documentation of morbidity, CD4(+) cell count, creatininemia, plasma HIV-1 RNA, and IDV minimal plasma concentration (C(min)) measurements at month 1 (M1), M3, and M6.

Composition and organization of the SCZ: a large germinal layer containing neural stem cells in the adult mammalian brain.

Two known germinal zones continue to generate new neurons and glia in the adult mammalian brain: the subventricular zone (SVZ), lining the lateral walls of the lateral ventricle, and the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus. Here we describe a region we will refer to as the subcallosal zone (SCZ). The SCZ is a caudal extension of the SVZ that is no longer associated to an open ventricle.

Effects of maternal thiamine deficiencies on the pyramidal and granule cells of the hippocampus of rat pups.

To understand the implication of thiamine deficiency in the neuronal atrophy and cell death we undertook to induce thiamine (B1 vitamine) deficiency during three essential periods of the ontogenesis of rat central nervous system (CNS). Female rats were fed with a thiamine deprived diet during the gestation and lactation, and the fetuses and pups were alternately exposed to prenatal, perinatal or postnatal thiamine deficiencies. On the 45th postnatal day, histological studies were done on the brains of the pups and the structure of the hippocampus was analyzed.

Cell types, lineage, and architecture of the germinal zone in the adult dentate gyrus.

New neurons continue to be born in the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus of adult mammals, including humans. Previous work has shown that astrocytes function as the progenitors of these new neurons through immature intermediate D cells. In the first part of the present study, we determined the structure of each of these progenitors and how they are organized in three dimensions.

Identification of neural stem cells in the adult vertebrate brain.

Neurogenesis continues into adult life in restricted germinal layers. The identification of the neural stem cells that give rise to these new neurons has important clinical implications and provides fundamental information to understand the origins of the new neurons. Work in adult birds and rodents yielded a surprising result: the neural stem cells appear to have characteristics of glia.

Neural stem cells and the regulation of neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus.

Neurogenesis continues in the hippocampal dentate gyrus of adult rodents and primates including humans. Neurons are born in the underlying subgranular layer (SGL) and move into the granule cell layer (GCL) to become mature granule neurons. Recent work indicates that the primary precursors for these new neurons correspond to radial astrocytes whose cell body is in the SGL and their processes traverse the GCL.

Astrocytes give rise to new neurons in the adult mammalian hippocampus.

Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus persists throughout life in many vertebrates, including humans. The progenitors of these new neurons reside in the subgranular layer (SGL) of the dentate gyrus. Although stem cells that can self-renew and generate new neurons and glia have been cultured from the adult mammalian hippocampus, the in vivo primary precursors for the formation of new neurons have not been identified.

Comparative effects of developmental thiamine deficiencies and ethanol exposure on the morphometry of the CA3 pyramidal cells.

Maternal alcoholism and thiamine deficiency are frequently considered to be the causal agents of the central nervous system (CNS) damage associated with mental retardation in the offspring. For further understanding of pathological mechanisms underlying CNS damage in both disorders, histological studies were undertaken in developing rats to compare the hippocampus CA3 pyramidal cells measurements and density between three patterns of thiamine deficiency and chronic alcohol exposure. Female rats were given thiamine-deficient diet during different periods of gestation and lactation to obtain pre-, peri-, and postnatal thiamine-deficient pups.

Thiamine administration during chronic alcohol intake in pregnant and lactating rats: effects on the offspring neurobehavioural development.

A number of mechanisms may be involved in the pathogenesis of thiamine deficiency in the alcoholic. Among these mechanisms are inadequate dietary intake of thiamine, impaired intestinal transport of the vitamin and decreased conversion of thiamine to the active coenzyme. The present study was undertaken to further investigate the mechanism by which alcohol can interfere with thiamine deficiency in the brain.

Psychomotor functions in developing rats: ontogenetic approach to structure-function relationships.

The functional development of the central nervous system (CNS) in the rat was studied from the 10th to the 45th postnatal day, through the ontogeny of psychomotor and sensory functions, by a battery of behavioral tests. The ontogenetic development of 10 different functions was described. The results showed that novelty-induced functions matured progressively in an adult-like pattern of functioning in the 3rd postnatal week.

Functional development of central nervous system in the rat: ontogeny of nociceptive thresholds.

The functional development of central nervous system (CNS) in the rat has been studied from the 10th to the 45th postnatal day, through a sensory function: nociception. Baseline pain responsiveness has been assessed with the tail-flick procedure. The mean tail-flick latency clearly decreases from the 10th to the 25th day, and remains stationary from this age to 45 days.

Effects of Mel B arsobal and alpha-difluoromethylornithine on the awakening electroencephalogram of humans with gambiense trypanosomiasis disease: preliminary report.

Five males and three females, at the encephalic stage of sleeping sickness, were submitted to trypanocide therapies. Three of the patients were treated with the Mel B Arsobal drug, the five others with difluoromethylornithine, using different protocols. Awakening electroencephalographic data were obtained prior to treatment and, at regular intervals, during and after treatment.

Auditory event-related potentials and reaction times during simple sensorymotor tasks in subjects with sickle cell disease and related hemoglobinopathies.

40 subjects of both sexes assigned to five groups of 8: healthy students, homozygous sicklemics, hemoglobin SC sicklemics, sickle cell Bo thalassemics, and sickle cell B+ thalassemics were subjected to 1/simple auditory stimuli; 2/paired auditory stimuli. The subjects were asked to respond quickly, by pressing a push button on detection of the simple stimulus or the unconditional stimulus of paired stimuli. A subsequent increase in reaction times and a reduction in event-related potential component amplitudes were obvious in major (SS and SC) sicklemics compared to controls and sickle cell B thalassemics.

[Cortical reactivity during reaction time tests in sprinters].

Thirty-two male subjects divided into 4 groups (of 8--controls, witnesses, students in physical and athletic education (PAE) and sprinters--were submitted to 1) simple auditory stimuli, 2) paired auditory stimuli, and 3) simple and paired auditory stimuli. The subjects, except the control group, have been assigned the task of quickly responding by pressing a button, accordingly the detection of the simple stimulus, of the imperative stimulus when the stimuli are paired, or the simple and imperative stimuli when they are randomly matched. The results show that the amplitude of the event-related potential components and of the CNV is significantly more important in sprinters and PEA students than in other groups.