School performance,nutritional status and trichuriasis in Jamaican schoolchildren

Severe infections by the geohelminth Trichuris trichiura detrimentally affect young children's growth and development. There is concern that mild to moderate infections may affect older children's school performance and nutritional status. We therefore examined the relationship between varying intensities of infection and school achievement, attendance and nutritional status in 616 schoolchildren. A total of 409 children with Trichuris infection of intensities greater than 1200 eggs per gram of stool (epg) were first identified, then for every 2 infected children in a class, an uninfected child was selected. After controlling for socioeconomic status, gender, age, school and the presence of Ascaris infections, the uninfected children had higher reading and arithmetic scores than children with infections of more than 4000 epg and were taller than those with intensities greater than 2000 epg. However, there were no significant differences in spelling, school attendance and body mass index. Although a treatment trial is needed to determine causation, these results indicate that moderate levels of infection are associated with poor school achievement and growth.     

Immunization status of thirty patients with sickle cell disease five years post hepatitis B vaccination. A comparison with normal controls

In order for hepatitis B immunization programmes to be cost effective and clinically beneficial, vaccinated persons should maintain an immunity threshold titre of antibodies to hepatitis B surface antigen greater than 10 IU/l. Those who fall below this level should be boosted in order to be covered against the risk for which the vaccine was administered. Persons with sickle cell disease are included in the group for whom hepatitis B immunization is routinely prescribed. Antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen was measured in paired sera of thirty patients with sickle cell disease compared with a control group of healthy medical staff, five years post vaccination. There was no significant difference between patients with sickle cell disease and normal controls in the levels of antibody maintained or numbers that required booster vaccination. Recommendations for the maintenance of protection via revaccination should be the same for persons with sickle cell disease as for healthy persons.     

Effects of Aronia melanocarpa juice as part of the dietary regimen in patients with diabetes mellitus

The low calorie juice Aronia melanocarpa (sugar free, with artificial sweeteners) could be a valuable adjunct to the complex therapy of patients with diabetes mellitus. In this study no increased blood glucose levels were established 60 min. following ingestion of 200 ml Aronia juice. On the contrary, lower fasting blood glucose concentrations were measured in 16 patients with insulin dependent diabetes and in 25 patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes (25 women and 16 men, 3 to 62 years of age, median age 38.8 +/- 4.7) with duration of the disease from 1 month to 13 years. Serial blood glucose measurements showed: 14.23 +/- 1.32 mmol/l at baseline and 11.4 +/- 0.89 mmol/l blood glucose level after 60 min., the difference being statistically significant (p<0.05). The ingestion of 200 ml Aronia juice combined with a standard breakfast produced similar results (the basal concentration of glucose was 13.43 +/- 1.12 mmol/l; it decreased to 11.94 +/- 1.02 mmol/l at 60 min., the difference did not reach statistical significance. The daily intake of 200 ml Aronia juice over a period of 3 months was effective in lowering fasting blood glucose levels from 13.28 +/- 4.55 mmol/l to 9.10 +/- 3.05 mmol/l (p<0.001) in 21 patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes--13 women and 8 men aged from 42 to 62 (median age 53.6 +/- 3.65) with disease duration from 6 to 17 years. Aronia had a beneficial effect on HbA1c, total cholesterol and lipid levels. They dropped from 9.39 +/- 2.16% to 7.49 +/- 1.33% (p<0.001), from 6.45 +/- 1.59 mmol/l to 5.05 +/- 0.96 mmol/l (p<0.001) and from 2.92 +/- 2.15 mmol/l to 1.7 +/- 1.07 mmol/l (p<0.001), respectively. Results were compared with those obtained in 23 patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes (15 women and 8 men aged from 48 to 67 years, median age 54.9 +/- 3.34) with disease duration from 6 to 17 years. The above mentioned parameters remained unchanged in these patients. Accumulated data illustrated the hypoglycemic potential of Aronia juice. The precise mechanism of its action is unknown but its beneficial effects and good taste make it a valuable adjunct to the dietary treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus.     

Novel cationic liposome formulation for the delivery of an oligonucleotide decoy to NF-kappaB into activated macrophages.

Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) is involved in several pathological processes, such as inflammation. Pro-inflammatory genes expression can be down-regulated by using an oligonucleotide (ODN) decoy to NF-kappaB. Cationic liposomes are largely used to improve ODN uptake into cells, although a higher transfection efficiency and a lower toxicity are required to use them in therapy. In this work, we investigated the potential of a novel liposome formulation, based on the recently synthesised cationic lipid (2,3-didodecyloxypropyl) (2-hydroxyethyl) dimethylammonium bromide (DE), as the delivery system for a double stranded ODN decoy to NF-kappaB. Liposomes composed of DE or DE mixed with 1,2-dioleyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine or cholesterol as helper lipids were complexed with ODN at different +/- charge ratios. In vitro uptake and the effect of ODN, naked or complexed with DE-containing liposomes, were evaluated in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. The use of helper lipids increased liposome physical stability up to 1 year at 4 degrees C. ODN complexed with DE/cholesterol liposomes, at the +/- charge ratio of 8, showed a limited cytotoxicity and the highest inhibition of nitrite production, inducible nitric oxide synthase protein expression and NF-kappaB/DNA binding activity. Confocal microscopy confirmed a high ODN cell uptake obtained with DE/cholesterol liposomes at the highest +/- charge ratio.