Hepatitis C virus infection in chronic liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma in Saudi Arabia

The prevalence of antibody to hepatitis C virus (HCV) was determined in 139 patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) and 42 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) during one year at the Riyadh Military Hospital, Saudi Arabia. The anti-HCV was detected in 36 of 96 (37.5%) HBsAg-negative patients with chronic liver disease and six of 43 (13.9%) HBsAg-positive patients with chronic liver disease. In addition, 11 (42.3%) HBsAg-negative hepatocellular carcinoma patients and two of 16 (12.5%) HBsAg-positive hepatocellular patients had antibody to HCV. The anti-HCV prevalence was 1.5% in 4818 healthy blood donors and 1% in 385 antenatal patients. The overall HCV seropositivity of 30.4% in 181 liver disease patients (CLD and HCC) in Saudi Arabia is lower than that reported from European countries.     

Dual Inhibition of Platelet-activating Factor and Arachidonic Acid Metabolism by Ajmaline and Effect on Carrageenan-induced Rat Paw Oedema

Abstract— The effects of ajmaline on human platelet aggregation, arachidonate metabolism and platelet activating factor (PAF)-induced lethality in rabbits were examined. Platelet aggregation induced by several stimuli (ADP, collagen, and PAF) was inhibited by increasing concentrations of ajmaline. The potency of ajmaline was higher when PAF was employed as stimulating agent in comparison with other agonists (IC50 70, 270 and 380 μm for PAF, ADP and collagen, respectively) whereas ajmaline had no effect against arachidonic acid-induced aggregation. In contrast however, ajmaline inhibited arachidonate metabolism by platelet homogenates. The formation of both thromboxane A₂ and 12-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid was inhibited by ajmaline with comparable potencies. Pretreatment of rabbits with ajmaline (50 mg kg^?1) completely abolished the lethal effects of PAF (11 μg kg^?1) given intravenously (P < 0·001). In addition, ajmaline at doses ranging from 50 to 100 mg kg^?1 inhibited carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema (P < 0·001). In this test ajmaline was three times more potent than aspirin. In the light of these results we conclude that ajmaline, a known anti-arrhythmic agent is a PAF antagonist and a dual inhibitor of platelet cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase enzymes with anti-inflammatory properties.     

Size at birth of live-born Saudi infants

Summary. Anthropometric measurements were done on 967 singleton live-born Saudi infants of gestational age 33 to 42 weeks who belonged to the high and middle social classes and who were born consecutively in Riyadh University Hospital. The 914 infants born at term (≥37 weeks) had a mean birthweight of 3.31 kg (SD 0.45), a mean length of 49.74 cm (SD 2.5) and a mean head circumference of 34.4 cm (SD 1.4). Values were significantly higher in males than females. Effect of sex in this study was not apparent until 40 weeks and later. Difference in body size was significant between the first-born and second infants but the trend was unimpressive with greater parity. Fifty-three (5.5%) of the infants were born preterm. Twenty-one of the preterm babies and 18 of the term infants weighed <2500 g, an overall incidence of low birthweight of 4%. Results were compared with studies from Saudi Arabia and other countries. It is concluded that there was no significant difference between birthweights of upper-class Saudis and Europeans.     

Cardiovascular and endocrine responses to haemorrhage in the pig

Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), indices of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity (plasma concentrations of adrenaline, noradrenaline and pancreatic polypeptide, PP), vasopressin (VP) and aldosterone (ALDO) were measured in six pigs during continuous bleeding resulting in hypovolaemic shock, from which five survived. Three stages of haemorrhage could be defined. Stage I. Resting MAP was 85 ± 6 mmHg and increased to 96 ± 5 mmHg with a blood loss of 275 (range 250–300) (10 (9–12)% of the estimated blood volume) concomitant with an increase in HR from 105 ± 5 to 113 ± 6 beats min^-1 (P < 0.05). Stage II. After a blood loss of 375 (300–500) ml (15 (13–16)%) MAP fell to 62 ± 9 mmHg and HR to 95 ± 5 beats min^-1 (P < 0.05). Stage III. A blood loss of 1113 (825–1450) ml (44 (30–52)%) resulted in a MAP of 50 ± 4 mmHg and an increase in HR to 206 ± 3 beats min^-1 (P < 0.05). Adrenaline increased from 0.3 ± 0.1 to 0.8 ± 0.3 (stage II) and 3.6 ± 1.1 nmol l^-1 (stage III) (P < 0.05); noradrenaline from 0.4 ± 0.1 to 1.5 ± 0.4 (stage II) and 5.9 ± 1.7 nmol l^-1 (stage III) (P < 0.05); PP from 6.2 ± 1.6 to 13.3 ± 2.3 (stage II) and 20.9 ± 7.8 pmol l^-1 (stage III) (P < 0.05). VP changed only marginally, but ALDO increased from 496 ± 54 to 623 ± 76 pmol l^-1 (stage III) (P < 0.05). The results suggest that a high HR and intense sympathetic activity is seen during severe haemorrhage in the pig while vagal slowing of the heart and moderate hypotension are prominent when bleeding amounts to approximately 15% of the estimated blood volume.