Is there an association between periodontal condition and HIV infection?

Abstract Individuals in Tanzania who have limited access to medical and dental treatment provide an opportunity to study the natural association between periodontal condition and HIV infection and the stage of infection. 119 HIV infected adult individuals and 73 individuals with AIDS from the AIDS Clinical Trial Clinic at Muhimbili Medical Centre (MMC) in DaresSalaam participated as cases. Mean age was 35.3 and 35.1 years, respectively. 156 individuals with a mean age of 28.3 years, confirmed as HIV seronegative, served as controls. There were no significant differences in bleeding on probing, pocket formation or attachment loss among the HIV seronegative individuals. HIV seropositive and AIDS patients. We applied multiple logistic regression to calculate odds ratios for presence of periodontal conditions adjusting for age, gender and DMFT. Our odds ratios did not reveal any significant associations between bleeding on probing, pocket formation or attachment loss with regard to lymphocyte and CD4+ T cell counts among the HIV infected individuals and AIDS patients. When associations were investigated with regard to HIV serostatus (HIV seronegative. HIV seropositive or AIDS), our adjusted odds ratios were insignificant, too. In fact, most odds ratios were close to 1. Thus, our study supports recent views that the presence, extent and severity of periodontal disease among HIV infected individuals, may be less that hitherto thought.     

Anticonvulsant Activity of Diospyros Fischeri Root Extracts

Diospyros fischeri Gurke (Ebenaceae) is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of epilepsy. Dichloromethane, ethylacetate, and ethanol extracts of the roots, at doses between 100 and 1600 mg/kg BW, inhibited convulsions induced by the γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAa) receptor antagonist, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ), in a dose dependent manner. The extracts also exhibited low toxicity against brine shrimps giving LC₅₀ values between 45.4 and 95.4 µg/ml. These results provide evidence for the potential of D. fischeri extracts to treat absence seizures, especially given their seemingly innocuous nature.     

Rehabilitation of undernourished children in Tanzania using locally available food

The rehabilitative effects of a long‐term feeding trial in Tanzania with moderately undernourished children are reported. It lasted 88 weeks and involved 49 children. Food consisted of locally available cereals (maize), legumes (beans), and vegetables for 74 weeks, supplemented by animal protein for 14 weeks. Children stayed in a day‐care center for 6 days of the week, and were medically supervised and treated, if necessary. In addition to anthropometric measurements, biochemical tests were carried out at regular intervals, and previous diseases and vaccinations were ascertained.

Forty‐one children grew faster than, and 6 about parallel to, the Baganda standard for the first 74 weeks. While for the former no growth acceleration was observed in the meat diet period (weeks 75–88), the latter group grew faster than the Baganda standard during that period. Methionine supplementation of the diet did not seem to produce any noticeable growth improvements.     

Dropouts in a long-term follow-up study involving voluntary counseling and HIV testing: experience from a cohort of police officers in Dar Es Salaam,Tanzania

BACKGROUND: Results of most population-based studies primarily are derived from people who responded positively and thereby continued to participate in such studies. It is, however, equally important to know the characteristics of study subjects who drop out to learn the reasons that kept them from continuing to participate in the study, especially because they had initially agreed to participate in such a study. In studies with long-term follow-up, reasons for nonresponse may provide invaluable information that may be gathered through continued contact with study subjects who have withdrawn from the study. OBJECTIVES: To determine characteristics of study participants who withdrew from an ongoing study of police officers, which involved counseling and HIV testing, and to determine reasons for their discontinued participation. METHODS: Demographic characteristics of a cohort of police officers who had been participating in a study to determine their suitability for HIV vaccine trials were analyzed. Characteristics of those who did not return for the second survey of appointments for HIV testing were compared with those who continued their participation. A randomly selected sample of 132 police officers who did not participate in the second survey of HIV testing were asked why they did not return. Answers were obtained from 84 people who had discontinued their participation. RESULTS: Of eligible police officers, 2087 (72.1%) responded to the call for follow-up appointments, whereas 807 (27.9%) did not return. Those who did not return to participate in the second survey had significantly higher rates of HIV seropositivity (17.2%) than those who did return (13.5%) (p <.05). The rate of return in unmarried participants was worse (p <.05) than the rate among married participants. Rates of sexual contacts with partners other than their spouses and levels of alcohol consumption did not differ between the two groups. Reasons for dropping out of the study included fear of knowing results of HIV testing in 54.6%, lack of time to continue in 34.5%, and fears about job security in 3.6%. CONCLUSION: Fears of finding out that one might be seropositive need to be answered at recruitment, and practical arrangements must be made to facilitate further follow-up. A bias for lower incidence might be introduced in vaccine trials if participants thought to be at highest risk for HIV infection discontinue participation.     

Retinoic Acid Syndrome: Pulmonary Computed Tomography (CT) Findings

We report the pulmonary computed tomography (CT) findings in three patients with acute promyelocyte leukaemia who developed the retinoic acid syndrome following all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) therapy. The most consistent CT findings were small, irregular peripheral nodules in the lung fields and pleural effusions. Two of the patients also showed evidence of reticular and ground glass shadowing as well as abnormal anterior mediastinal soft tissue. We report for the first time an association between ATRA and pneumothorax. We conclude that routine CT scanning may provide a sensitive means of early detection or monitoring of the syndrome and thereby may facilitate its management.     

Some Pharmacological Properties of An Aqueous Extract of Securinega Virosa Roots

An aqueous extract of Securinega virosa is used by traditional healers in Tanga (northeastern Tanzania) as an aphrodisiac and in the treatment of impotence, which is one of the manifestations of diabetes mellitus. An aqueous extract of the roots at doses of 0.1,0.2, 0.4 and 1.0 g/kg body weight lowered the area under the oral glucose tolerance curve (OGTT) in normal albino rabbits by 0.3 (P &gt;0.05), 7.85, 11.0 and 9.6% (P =0.05), respectively. Chlorpropamide (0.1 g/kg body weight) had a greater effect on blood glucose and lowered area under the OGTT curve by 16.3%. The extract, at a dose of 0.4 g/kg body weight, had no effect on fasting blood glucose (FBG) when compared to controls given distilled water (P &gt;0.05), except at 4 h, when the FBG for treated animals was higher. The LD 50 (95% confidence interval) determined by intraperitoneal administration of the extract to white albino mice was 0.30 (0.20–0.50) g/kg body weight. We conclude that the aqueous extract of Securinega virosa roots lowered the area under the OGTT curve dose-dependently at doses between 0.1 and 1.0 g/kg body weight. It did not lower blood glucose below fasting levels both in the fed and fasted state. More work is required to determine the toxic characteristics of the extract and the utility of the observed activity in the management of diabetes mellitus in humans.     

Quantifying the effects of iodine contrast media on standardised uptake values of FDG PET/CT images: an anthropomorphic phantom study

This study aimed to quantify the amount of change in Standardised Uptake Values (SUVs) of PET/CT images by simulating the set-up as closely as possible to the actual patient scanning. The experiments were conducted using an anthropomorphic phantom, which contained an amount of radioactivity in the form of Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in a primary plastic test tube and one litre saline bags, including the insertion of bony structures and another two test tubes containing different concentrations of iodine contrast media. Standard scanning protocols were employed for the PET/CT image acquisition. The highest absolute differences in the SUVmax and SUVmean values of the saline bags were found to be about 0.2 and 0.4, respectively. The primary test tube showed the largest change of 1.5 in both SUVs; SUV max and SUVmean. However, none of these changes were found to be statistically significant. The clinical literature also contains no evidence to suggest that the changes of this magnitude would change the final diagnosis. Based on these preliminary data, we propose that iodine contrast media can be used during the CT scan of PET/CT imaging, without significantly affecting the diagnostic quality of this integrated imaging modality.