[Spirometric reference values in the Bantu population aged 20-70 years in Kinshasa].

Introduction: Spirometric reference values cannot be extrapolated in the populations, being subject to many environmental and human variables; hence the interest of local studies in this field.

Methods: This study aims to determine the reference values among healthy adults in Kinshasa. We conducted a cross-sectional study including 7443 subjects (3208 women, 43%).

Potential usefulness of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin determination in patients admitted for neurological disorders in rural Democratic Republic of Congo.

In low-resource hospitals of central Africa, neurological disorders are frequent and etiologies very diverse. The difficulty to identify invasive bacterial infections in this setting results in major antibiotic overuse. Biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) may help discriminate these conditions.

Ealamines A-H, a Series of Naphthylisoquinolines with the Rare 7,8'-Coupling Site, from the Congolese Liana , Targeting Pancreatic Cancer Cells.

From the twigs and leaves of the Central African liana (Ancistrocladaceae), a series of ten 7,8'-coupled naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids were isolated, comprising eight new compounds, named ealamines A-H (, , -), and two known ones, 6--demethylancistrobrevine A () and yaoundamine A (), which had previously been found in related African species. Only one of the new compounds within this series, ealamine H (), is a typical Ancistrocladaceae-type alkaloid, with 3-configuration at C-3 and an oxygen function at C-6, whereas seven of the new alkaloids are the first 7,8'-linked "hybrid-type" naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids, i.e.

Maternal determinants of diarrhea in children under five in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Diarrheal diseases are one of the leading causes of death among children younger than 5 years of age in the world in general and in sub-Saharan Africa in particular. Mothers are predominantly responsible for child care and housekeeping in this region. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of diarrhea and identify its maternal determinants in children under five in the city of Lubumbashi.

Comparison of major depression diagnostic classification probability using the SCID, CIDI, and MINI diagnostic interviews among women in pregnancy or postpartum: An individual participant data meta-analysis.

Objectives: A previous individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA) identified differences in major depression classification rates between different diagnostic interviews, controlling for depressive symptoms on the basis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. We aimed to determine whether similar results would be seen in a different population, using studies that administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in pregnancy or postpartum.

Methods: Data accrued for an EPDS diagnostic accuracy IPDMA were analysed.

Dengue and chikungunya among outpatients with acute undifferentiated fever in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Pathogens causing acute fever, with the exception of malaria, remain largely unidentified in sub-Saharan Africa, given the local unavailability of diagnostic tests and the broad differential diagnosis.

Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional study including outpatient acute undifferentiated fever in both children and adults, between November 2015 and June 2016 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Serological and molecular diagnostic tests for selected arboviral infections were performed on blood, including PCR, NS1-RDT, ELISA and IFA for acute, and ELISA and IFA for past infections.

Analysis of severe adverse effects following community-based ivermectin treatment in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Background: The progress of mass, community-directed, treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) for onchocerciasis control was disrupted by severe adverse effects (SAE) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The study aimed at determining the frequency of post-CDTI SAE as well as factors associated with the occurrence of SAE.

Methods: Our retrospective study relied on SAE collection cards, as archived by the DRC Ministry of Health, and compiled for people who benefited from ivermectin treatment then further developed SAE.

Temporal and Spatial Dynamics of Monkeypox in Democratic Republic of Congo, 2000-2015.

Monkeypox is a viral disease with a clinical presentation resembling that of smallpox. Although monkeypox is considered to be an important zoonotic viral disease, its epidemiology remains poorly understood, especially the spatial and temporal distribution of the disease. The present study examined weekly reports of monkeypox cases collected from 2000 to 2015 at the health zone scale in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Successful programmatic approaches to facilitating IUD uptake: CARE's experience in DRC.

Background: Achieving the unfinished agenda towards sexual and reproductive health and rights requires overcoming remaining barriers to contraceptive uptake, which can be method-specific. Women's uptake of the IUD is poor across sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this paper is to identify the reasons for comparatively high IUD use observed in a CARE project in DRC, together with the programmatic characteristics which facilitated uptake.

Community Participation in and Perception of Community-Directed Treatment with Ivermectin in Kinshasa, DRC.

The success of community-directed treatment with Ivermectin (CDTI) depends on active community participation. We conducted a case study nested in a cross-sectional study in the Binza Ozone Health Zone (ZS) in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to investigate community's knowledges and perceptions of onchocerciasis and on all CDTI's aspects. We interviewed 106 people aged 20 and over, purposively selected, through eight individual interviews and 12 focus groups.

Best Practices of Blood Cultures in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.

Bloodstream infections (BSI) have a substantial impact on morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite scarcity of data from many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), there is increasing awareness of the importance of BSI in these countries. For example, it is estimated that the global mortality of non-typhoidal bloodstream infection in children under 5 already exceeds that of malaria.

[Epidemiology and clinical pattern of ocular toxoplasmosis in Kinshasa].

Purpose: To determine the epidemiology and clinical pattern of Congolese patients with ocular toxoplasmosis.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on records of patients with ocular toxoplasmosis examined in the Teaching Hospital of Kinshasa (DR Congo) from 2010 to 2012. Each patient underwent a complete ophthalmic examination.

[Effects of Dacryodes edulis fruit oil on anxiety symptoms and cognitive performance in mice, after prolonged administration].

Objective: To study the effects of prolonged administration of Dacryodes edulis (G. Don) H.J.

Dimeric naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids: polyketide-derived axially chiral bioactive quateraryls.

Covering: up to April 2019Dimeric naphthylisoquinoline (NIQ) alkaloids are an emerging group of structurally, biosynthetically, and pharmacologically intriguing natural products, as yet isolated from African and Asian lianas belonging to the genus Ancistrocladus Wall. (Ancistrocladaceae) exclusively. These metabolites and their monomers are the only known di- and tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids that do not originate from aromatic amino acids, but from polyketide precursors.

Insufficient iodine nutrition status and the risk of pre-eclampsia: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Pre-eclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) in pregnancy is one of the established risk factors for pre-eclampsia, the link between iodine deficiency, the main cause of hypothyroidism and pre-eclampsia remains uncertain. About two billion people live in areas with iodine insufficiency.

The score of integrated disease surveillance and response adequacy (SIA): a pragmatic score for comparing weekly reported diseases based on a systematic review.

Background: The Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) strategy implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa has produced a large amount of data on participating countries, and in particular on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These data are increasingly considered as unevaluable and, therefore, as requiring a rigorous process of validation before they can be used for research or public health purposes. The aim of this study was to propose a method to assess the level of adequacy of IDSR morbidity data in reflecting actual morbidity.

Facial photogrammetric profile measurements and sagittal dental occlusion in the young Congolese Bantu Adult (DRC).

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine, according to the kind of dental occlusion, the profile photogrammetric characteristics of the young Congolese Bantu adult (DRC Congo).

Materials And Methods: It was a cross-sectional study, including 302 young Congolese Bantu adults (161 males and 141 females), aged between 18-30 years old. All were in full permanent dentition, out of which 157 in dental normocclusion, 74 in distocclusion, and 71 in mesiocclusion.

[Socioemotional disorders in children living in Konzo-affected areas, an epidemic paralytic disease associated with cyanide poisoning from food in sub-Saharan Africa].

Introduction: the aim of this study was to describe the socioemotional profile of children living in Konzo-affected areas, an epidemic toxico-nutritional palsy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: we evaluated the socioemotional profile of 210 children, 123 with Konzo and 87 presumed to be healthy (4-17 years) based on a structured interview conducted with their parents during an epidemioclinic survey of Konzo in Congo-Kinshasa in 2011. Neurocognitive profile was identified by the KABC-II, the BOT-2 and the global neurological symptom index of Konzo.

Antiprotozoal dimeric naphthylisoquinolines, mbandakamines B and B, and related 5,8'-coupled monomeric alkaloids, ikelacongolines A-D, from a Congolese liana.

From the leaves of a botanically and phytochemically as yet unexplored liana discovered in the rainforests of the Central region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the vicinity of the town of Ikela, six new naphthylisoquinoline alkaloids were isolated, , two constitutionally unsymmetric dimers, the mbandakamines B (3) and B (4), and four related 5,8'-linked monomeric alkaloids, named ikelacongolines A-D (5a, 5b, 6, and 7). The dimers 3 and 4 are structurally unusual quateraryls comprising two 5,8'-coupled monomers linked a sterically strongly constrained 6',1''-connection between their naphthalene units. These compounds contain seven elements of chirality, four stereogenic centers and three consecutive chiral axes.

Investigating the reciprocal relationships between locomotor sensitization to ethanol and PTSD-like clusters in DBA/2J mice.

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are two conditions that co-occur frequently. The mechanistic explanations of this co-morbidity are still unclear. The goal of this study was twofold.

Concomitant Use of Cotrimoxazole and Atazanavir in HIV-infected Patients: A Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Pharmacovigilance Based Dual Approach.

Background: Cotrimoxazole is the main antibiotic used in primary prophylaxis for opportunistic infections in advanced HIV infection. This drug can inhibit one of the metabolic pathways of atazanavir (ATV), such as the cytochromes P450 (CYP) 2C8/2C9 and could interfere with its safety and efficacy.

Objective: We studied the drug-drug interaction (DDI) between cotrimoxazole and ATV by using therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and pharmacovigilance (PV) approaches.

Peritraumatic dissociation and post-traumatic stress disorder in individuals exposed to armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The purpose of this study was to verify the hypothesis that there is an association between peritraumatic dissociation (PD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in individuals exposed to recurrent armed conflict. More specifically, we sought to evaluate whether PD differentially predicts PTSD according to the degree of exposure to the potentially traumatic event (PTE), the level of education, and gender. A total of 120 individuals between 17 and 75 years of age, including 51 women, completed the Traumatic Events List, the Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire, and the French version of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist Scale, as well as a questionnaire providing information regarding sociodemographic details.

Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra tea infusions vs. artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ) in treating Plasmodium falciparum malaria in a large scale, double blind, randomized clinical trial.

Background And Objective: Prior small-scale clinical trials showed that Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra infusions, decoctions, capsules, or tablets were low cost, easy to use, and efficient in curing malaria infections. In a larger-scale trial in Kalima district, Democratic Republic of Congo, we aimed to show A. annua and/or A.