Bioactive components of the traditionally used mushroom Podaxis pistillaris

In the course of an ethnobotanical study on fungi used in Yemeni ethnomedicine the fungus Podaxis pistillaris (Podaxales, Podaxaceae, Basidiomycetes) was found to exhibit antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus flavus, Bacillus subtilis, Proteus mirabilis, Serratia marcescens and Escherichia coli. In the culture medium of P. pistillaris three epidithiodiketopiperazines were identified by activity-guided isolation. Based on spectral data (NMR, ESI-MS and DCI-MS) their identity was established as epicorazine A (1), epicorazine B (2) and epicorazine C (3, antibiotic F 3822), which have not been reported as constituents of P. pistillaris previously. It is assumed that the identified compounds contribute to the antibacterial activity of the extract.     

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of selected medicinal plants from Yemen

Ninety crude extracts, including dichloromethane, methanol and aqueous extracts from 30 medicinal plants used in the Yemeni ethnomedicine to treat common infections, were screened in vitro for antimicrobial activities against three Gram-positive bacteria and two Gram-negative bacteria, Candida maltosa and five opportunistic human fungal pathogens (two yeasts, three hyphomycetes). Most of the plants showed antibacterial activities. Extracts from Tamarindus indica flowers and Ficus vasta fruits have been the most active. Of the 30 plants tested, 13 showed antifungal activity (40%) against one ore more human pathogenic fungi. The strongest inhibition was exhibited by Azima tetracantha (fruits), Sansevieria ehrenbergii (fruits) and Solanum incanum (fruits). Ten methanol extracts, especially those of Acacia asak barks and Solanum nigrum fruits, showed effective free radical scavenging activities in the DPPH assay. Remarkable cytotoxic activity against FL-cells was shown only for five plants, among them Plicosepalus curviflorus (stems).     

A study on the short tandem repeat systems HumCD4, HumTH01 and HumFIBRA in population samples from Yemen and Egypt

The short tandem repeat systems (STRs) HumCD4 (CD4), HumTH01 (TH01) and HumFIBRA (FGA) were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on blood samples from 100 unrelated Yemenians and 100 unrelated Egyptians. PCR products were separated on native horizontal discontinuous gel electrophoresis followed by silver staining. The distribution of observed phenotypes did not deviate from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. While significant differences between both Arab populations and an European population from Austria were found at all loci, differences between the Egyptian and the Yemenian samples were found only for CD4. In a number of verified Austrian families (TH01: 426 meioses, CD4: 275 meioses, FGA: 144 meioses) no mutations were found. The observation of a TH01 allele consisting of 4 repeats was confirmed by sequencing. Moreover we report the structure of a TH01 allele 6.3 observed in a Hungarian Caucasian population. Received: 20 May 1997 / Received in revised form: 1 September 1997     

Overview of vascular injuries in Yemen: Experience from a single tertiary referral hospital

Background: Vascular injuries are seen in blunt and penetrating trauma. They have been well documented during wartime, but there have been few reviews of vascular trauma in civilian practice. In Yemen, gunshot injuries seen frequently where civilian violence is common. The present study aimed to describe our experience in the management of vascular injuries in civilian practice. Methods: A prospective study included 132 patients with 163 vascular injuries who were admitted to the surgical department at Al‐Thawra Teaching Hospital between December 1997 and March 2002. Results: Eighty‐seven per cent of the patients were males and the median age was 28.5 years. The most common cause of vascular injury was gunshot injury (59.8%), followed by stab wounds and car accidents. The commonest vessels injured were the common femoral arteries, followed by the brachial and popliteal arteries (19, 18 and 18 injuries, respectively). Associated injuries were recorded in 72 patients and included 47 fractures. Treatment included vein graft interposition in 67, ligation in 52 and end to end anastomosis or lateral primary repair in 34 injuries. Fasciotomy was performed for 39 patients and amputation performed in 11 cases. The mortality reached 9.8% and the commonest cause (nine out of 13 deaths) was due to gunshot wounds. The median hospital stay was 13.5 days. Conclusion: Gunshot wounds represent the majority of vascular injuries in Yemen. Shortage of vascular surgery services in most of the Yemeni Hospitals represents a major problem. Legislation and regulation to take up arms is of paramount importance for injury prevention in Yemen.     

Yemeni women’s perceptions of own authority during childbirth: What does it have to do with achieving the Millennium Development Goals?

Background

women′s underutilisation of professional care during childbirth in many low-income countries is a serious concern in terms of achievement of maternal Millennium Development Goal 5.

Objective

to explore women's perceived own authority within the modern and traditional spheres of childbirth in a high maternal mortality setting on the Arab peninsula. Yemen is a signatory to the Millennium Development Goals and one of 10 countries chosen for the United Nations Millennium Project. In Yemen, home birth has remained the norm for several decades in spite of high maternal mortality and morbidity rates.

Design

a multistage (stratified-purposive-random) sampling process was used. Two hundred and twenty women with childbirth experience in urban/rural Yemen were selected at random for interview. Answers to the question ‘Did you feel that you were the authority during childbirth?’ were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Setting

the governorates of Aden, Lahej, Hadramout, Taiz and Hodeidah.

Findings

three main themes emerged from the analysis: (i) ‘Being at the centre’, including two categories ‘being able to follow through on own wants’ and its opposite ‘to be under the authority of others’; (ii) ‘A sense of belonging’ with the categories ‘belonging and support among women in the community’ and ‘the denial of support, the experience of separation’ and (iii) ‘Husband’s role in childbirth’ including one category ‘opportunity to show authority over the husband’. Authority was experienced primarily among women within the traditional childbirth sector although a general complaint among women delivered by trained medical staff was the loss of own authority.

Key conclusions and implications for practice

these findings show that women's authority during childbirth is decreasing in the context of Safe Motherhood and the expansion of modern delivery care. This is likely to be an important reason why women underutilise professional care. Acquisition of knowledge from the traditional childbirth sector regarding how women exercise authority to facilitate childbirth would constitute an asset to skilled delivery and Safe Motherhood. The findings from Yemen are likely to be relevant for other low-income countries with similar persistent high home delivery rates, low status of women, and high maternal mortality and morbidity rates.     

A study of dermatophytoses in Sana'a,Yemen Republic

The present study describes the extent and causative agents of dermatophytoses in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen Republic. Out of 1100 patients with various skin diseases, 16.6% were affected with dermatophytoses. Among them, 70% were male and the age group 11-20 years was most susceptible to tinea infections. Tinea corporis was the most common disease, followed by tinea capitis. One hundred and seventy isolates of dermatophytes related to 9 species were identified. Microsporum canis was the most prevalent species, followed by Trichophyton violaceum.     

Seroprevalence of markers of viral hepatitis in Yemeni healthcare workers

The seroprevalence of viral hepatitis in healthcare workers has important public health implications. To assess the risk factors for the acquisition of viral hepatitis in an unvaccinated cohort from an hyperendemic region, 567 healthcare workers from a large hospital in the capital of the Republic of Yemen were interviewed and tested for serological markers of infection with viral hepatitis. 54/543 (9.9%) tested positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), 174/543 (32.0%) had positive hepatitis B core antibodies (anti-HBc), and 19/546 (3.5%) had hepatitis C antibodies (anti-HCV). Age (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.06), male sex (OR = 2.0, 1.32-3.03), and occupation (healthcare workers not carrying out exposure prone procedures, OR = 1.61, 1.06-2.44) were found to be independent predictors for the likelihood of detecting either HBsAg or anti-HBc by multivariate logistic regression analysis. No independent risk factors for anti-HCV positive status were identified. Our findings support the adoption of universal HBV immunisation programmes and infection control precautions. The absence of known risk factors predicting anti-HCV positive serostatus suggests the main mode of transmission of hepatitis C in this cohort in the Yemen remains undiscovered.     

Prevalence of hepatitis B,C, and D virus markers in yemeni patients with chronic liver disease

A serological survey for hepatitis B, C, and D markers was carried out in the Yemen Republic. Serum samples from 243 pregnant females, 294 male blood donors, and 108 patients with chronic liver disease were examined. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was found in 18.5% healthy individuals and 24.1% patients with chronic liver disease (P = 0.03). Evidence of any marker for hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was found in 59.8% healthy individuals and 75.9% of patients with chronic liver disease (P = 0.0016). HBeAg was detected in 32.1% of the HBsAg-positive pregnant females, indicating that vertical transmission probably plays a part in forming the pool of HBV carriers. Vaccination against HBV as part of the extended programme of immunisation (EPI) is recommended. Antibodies to hepatitis D were found in only 2 of 100 HBsAgpositive sera. Antibodies to hepatitis C (anti- HCV) were found in 2.1% healthy individuals and 21.5% patients with chronic liver disease (P = 0.0001). These results indicate that hepatitis B is hyperendemic in the Yemen Republic but that hepatitis D is very uncommon. The prevalence of anti-HCV is higher than in Europe and similar to neighbouring Arab countries. Infection with both HBV and HCV are important causes of chronic liver disease in the Yemen Republic.© 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.