New observations in primary and secondary reading epilepsy: excellent response to levetiracetam and early spontaneous remission

The response of reading epilepsy to new antiepileptic drugs is not known. Due to the rarity of this condition little is known about its natural history. We evaluated and treated three patients with primary and secondary reading epilepsy. Seizures in all patients were characterized by twitching of the jaw or lips with secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures if reading continued. One patient with primary reading epilepsy became seizure-free with divalproex monotherapy and another with levetiracetam monotherapy after failure of lamotrigine. One other patient with secondary reading epilepsy became seizure-free with levetiracetam add-on therapy. The divalproex-treated patient stopped therapy less than 3 years after seizure onset and remained seizure-free with 6 years of follow-up. We propose levetiracetam as a first-line treatment for primary and secondary reading epilepsy. Spontaneous medication-free remission of primary reading epilepsy may occur within 3 years of seizure onset, much earlier than previously reported.     

Malaria overdiagnosis and burden of malaria misdiagnosis in the suburbs of central Sudan: special emphasis on artemisinin-based combination therapy era

Accuracy of diagnosis is central for malaria control. Although microscopy is gold standard in malaria diagnosis, its reliability is largely dependent on user skill. In this study, we evaluated practitioners' clinical and microscopists' technical skills in diagnosis of malaria in central Sudan. In a retrospective study, 3203 blood smears from 95 peripheral health facilities (each represented by a general practitioner [GP] and general microscopist [GM]) were reexamined by expert microscopist. Furthermore, in a prospective study, 410 patients had their malaria diagnosis rechecked by rapid diagnostic test for validation of the microscopic diagnosis. Results showed that the rate of false-positive diagnosis of malaria was 75.6% and false-negative diagnosis was 0.01%. The study disclosed poor skills of the GPs and GMs in malaria diagnosis because 43% of the GPs and 44% of the GMs failed to make a single true-positive malaria diagnosis. The false-positive malaria diagnosis showed bias toward adult females. Economically, the calculated cost of diagnosis and treatment of malaria in Sudan in year 2000 is US$100 million, whereas the calculated cost of true malaria is approximately US$14 million. In conclusion, malaria overdiagnosis was widely recognized in central Sudan, with high economic burden during the era of artemisinin-based combination therapy. Finally, different scenarios were suggested for improvement of malaria diagnosis.     

Liver monoamine oxidase (MAO) in liver homogenate of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni and effect of certain therapeutic agents.

MAO activity in liver homogenate of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni was determined from the second till the 14th week following infection. Significant diminution of MAO activity was noticed starting from the sixth week following infection, reaching its lowest value at the eighth week, obviously denoting progress of hepatic fibrosis. Treatment of the infected, animals with four different antischistosomal agents, tarter emetic, stibophen, niridazole and hycanthone, resulted in an improvement of the enzyme level to an almost normal value. This may indicate the ease with which the lesions in the liver including fibrosis recover when the infection is successfully treated.     

Cytotoxicity evaluation and antioxidant enzyme expression related to heavy metals found in tuna by-products meal: An in vitro study in human and rat liver cell lines

Heavy metals can accumulate in organisms via various pathways, including respiration, adsorption and ingestion. They are known to generate free radicals and induce oxidative and/or nitrosative stress with depletion of anti-oxidants. Tuna by-product meal (TBM) is rich in proteins and can, therefore, offer an attractive protein source for animals. This study was undertaken to assess the effects of metals present in TBM, namely cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg), separately or in combination with oxidative stress, on cell viability. Three cell models: rat liver FTO2B, human hepatoma HepG2, and human hepatic WRL-68, were used. Cell viability was determined following exposure to various concentrations of the metals. Two antioxidant genes, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), were measured to obtain a better understanding of oxidative stress-associated gene expression. Among the metals present in TBM, only Cd at a concentration of 30 μM was noted to exhibit cytotoxic effects. This cytotoxicity was even more pronounced after co-stimulation with H₂O₂, used to mimic systemic oxidative stress. At non-toxic concentrations, Hg and Pb were noted to aggravate oxidative stress toxicity. The results further revealed that exposure to Cd, Pb, and a co-stimulation of H₂O₂ with Hg resulted in the increased expression of antioxidant gene SOD. A risk assessment of toxic contaminants in TBM indicated that food safety objectives should consider the human health impacts of foods derived from animals fed on contaminated meal and that much care should be taken when TBM is used in animal diet.     

Thymoquinone ameliorates the immunological and histological changes induced by exposure to imidacloprid insecticide

Previous studies have shown that thymoquinone (TQ) exerts protective effects in some models of pesticide-induced immunotoxicity. However, no data exist regarding its possible modulatory effect during imidacloprid (IC)-induced toxicity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the impact of TQ on IC-induced immunotoxicity. Sixty adult male albino rats were divided into three groups of twenty animals each. The control group was given distilled water orally, while the IC-treated group was orally administered 0.01 LD(50 )(0.21 mg/kg body weight) of IC insecticide daily for 28 days. The animals in the third group (IC/TQ group) received the same IC dose as the IC-treated group for 28 days in addition to an intraperitoneal (I.P.) injection of TQ (1 mg/kg) once every 7 days. We found that IC induced significant increases (P < 0.05) in total leukocyte counts, total immunoglobulins (Igs) (especially IgGs), the hemagglutination of antibodies, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and malondialdehyde (MDA) compared to the control group. In contrast, significant decreases (P < 0.05) in phagocytic activity, chemokine expression and chemotaxis were observed in the IC-treated group, as were severe histopathological lesions in the liver, spleen and thymus. Notably, TQ supplementation ameliorated the biochemical, histopathological, and immunological changes induced by IC by increasing phagocytic activity, chemokinesis, chemotaxis, immunoglobulin levels, and the hemagglutination of antibodies, as well as by decreasing hepatic enzymes and serum MDA levels. Taken together, our data reveal the benefits of TQ supplementation for ameliorating IC toxicity by decreasing oxidative stress and enhancing immune efficiency.     

Hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in rats induced by carbon tetrachloride and the protective effects of Teucrium polium and vitamin C

This work investigated the protective effects of Teucrium polium (T. polium) and vitamin C (Vit C) against carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) induced hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity in rats. T. polium reduced the Fer reduced antioxidant power (FRAP) (IC₅₀?=?0.89?mg/ml) and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (IC₅₀?=?0.049 µg/ml) than Vit C, FRAP (IC₅₀?=?0.71?mg/ml) and DPPH (IC₅₀?=?0.029 µg/ml). Male albino Wistar rats were divided into six groups: Group I was used as controls, Group II received CCl₄ in olive oil (0.5?ml/kg) by gavage, Group III received CCl₄ in olive oil (0.5?ml/kg) by gavage after 3 d of receiving T. polium (5?g/l), orally, Group IV received T. polium (5?g/l) alone, by gavage, for 7 d, Group V received CCl₄ in olive oil (0.5?ml/kg) by gavage after 3 d of receiving Vit C (250?mg/kg) by gavage and Group VI received Vit C (250?mg/kg) alone by gavage. CCl₄ showed an increase of serum hepatic and renal markers aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), urea, and creatinine. Moreover, we noted an increase of lipid peroxidations and a decrease in antioxidants enzymes: superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) of CCl₄ rats compared to controls. The pretreatment with (200?mg/kg) of T. polium and with Vit C (250?mg/kg) by gavage, for 7 d, displayed their ability to protect against oxidative damage and biochemical changes induced by CCl₄. Our results were in accordance with histopathological observations.     

The role of probiotics in children with autism spectrum disorder: A prospective,open-label study

Objective: There are limited data on the efficacy of probiotics in children with ASD, therefore, this study aims to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of probiotics in an Egyptian cohort of children with ASD.

Methods: Gastrointestinal (GI) flora were assessed by quantitative real-time PCR of stool samples of 30 autistic children from 5 to 9 years old. GI symptoms of autistic children were assessed with a modified six-item Gastrointestinal Severity Index (6-GSI) questionnaire, and autistic symptoms were assessed with Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) before and after 3 months of supplementation of probiotics nutritional supplement formula (each gram contains 100?×?10⁶ colony forming units of three probiotic strains; Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacteria longum).

Results: After probiotic supplementation, the stool PCR of autistic children showed increases in the colony counts of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli levels, with a significant reduction in their body weight as well as significant improvements in the severity of autism (assessed by the ATEC), and gastrointestinal symptoms (assessed by the 6-GSI) compared to the baseline evaluated at the start of the study.

Conclusions: We concluded that probiotics have beneficial effects on both behavioral and GI manifestations of ASD. Probiotics (a non-pharmacological and relatively risk-free option) could be recommended for children with ASD as an adjuvant therapy. At this stage, this study is a single center with a small number of patients and a great deal of additional wide-scale randomized controlled trials are needed to critically confirm the efficacy of probiotics in ASD.

Trial registration number: UMIN-CTR Study Design: Trial Number UMIN000026157     

Lipid peroxidation and HSP72/73 expression in rat following cadmium chloride administration: Interactions of magnesium supplementation

Objective: to determine whether magnesium (Mg) supplementation could have a protective effect against the cadmium (Cd)-induced oxidative stress in liver, kidneys and testes of adult male rats. Stress was evaluated by measuring lipid peroxidation by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and the heat shock protein (HSP) 72/73 expression.

CdCl₂ injections (2.5 mg/day/kg body weight) for 10 days resulted in a time dependent increase of Cd accumulation in liver, kidney and testes, the highest levels being found in liver (400 μg/g dried tissue). At the same time, an increase of lipid peroxidation was observed. The effect was maximal at day 1 of Cd treatment in liver and testes, and later (day 5) in kidney. Then, Cd-induced lipid peroxidation decreased, suggesting the activation of antioxidant defense mechanisms.

Injections of Mg SO₄ (300–600 mg/day/kg body weight) reduced in a dose-dependent manner Cd-induced lipid peroxidation in liver and kidney as well as the accumulation of Cd in liver, kidney and testes. In testes, a protective effect of Mg was found only during the early phase of Cd-poisoning. On days 5 and 10, lipid peroxidation was even increased as compared to controls.

In liver and testes only the constitutive HSP73 was detected whereas in kidney both HSP73 and the inducible HSP72 were expressed. HSP72/73 expression was not significantly increased by Cd and HSP73 was even lowered in kidney, probably due to the strong dose used. These results were not modified by Mg injections.

Conclusion: Mg supplementation can reduce Cd accumulation in organs and lipid peroxidation related to Cd administration.