Dyslipidemia in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes in a Rural Community in Ganadougou, Mali: A Cross-Sectional Study

Dyslipidemia is a disorder where abnormally lipid concentrations circulate in the bloodstream. The disorder is common in type 2 diabetics (T2D) and is linked with T2D comorbidities, particularly cardiovascular disease. Dyslipidemia in T2D is typically characterized by elevated plasma triglyceride and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels. There is a significant gap in the literature regarding dyslipidemia in rural parts of Africa, where lipid profiles may not be captured through routine surveillance. This study aimed to characterize the prevalence and demo-graphic profile of dyslipidemia in T2D in the rural community of Ganadougou, Mali. We performed a cross-sectional study of 104 subjects with T2D in Ganadougou between November 2021 and March 2022. Demographic and lipid profiles were collected through cross-sectional surveys and serological analyses. The overall prevalence of dyslipidemia in T2D patients was 87.5% (91/104), which did not differ by sex (P = .368). High low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was the most common lipid abnormality (78.9%, [82/104]). Dyslipidemia was associated with age and hypertension status (P = .013 and.036, respectively). High total and high LDL-C parameters were significantly associated with hypertension (P = .029 and .006, respectively). In low-resource settings such as rural Mali, there is a critical need to improve infrastructure for routine dyslipidemia screening to guide its prevention and intervention approaches. The high rates of dyslipidemia observed in Gandadougou, consistent with concomitant increases in cardiovascular diseases in Africa suggest that lipid profile assessments should be incorporated into routine medical care for T2D patients in African rural settings.

Assessment of Cadmium and Lead in Dried Sewage Sludge from Lubigi Feacal Sludge and Wastewater Treatment Plant in Uganda

Sludge contains organic and inorganic compounds including traces of heavy metals such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) and others. These metals restrict the use of sludge in agriculture because their accumulation is harmful to the environment and particularly the food chain. Cadmium and lead are among the most common heavy metals found in municipal wastewater treatment plant sludge. They are capable of bioaccumulation in plant tissues like roots and leaves and are non-biodegradable and therefore they remain in the sludge which is disposed on land or used as fertilizers on farms. The presence of heavy metal pollutants serves as a great threat to soils and also makes plants grown on such soils unfit for animal and human consumption as they may have detrimental effects to animal and human life. For instance, Pb and Cd are known to be human carcinogens. This study therefore aimed to investigate the levels of Cd and Pb in the treated dry sludge from Lubigi Feacal Sludge and Wastewater treatment plant located in Kawempe division, Kampala city, Uganda so as to ascertain its safety for use on agricultural lands. Two batches of samples were collected and analyzed at Government Analytical laboratory in Wandegeya, Uganda. The acid digested sludge samples were analyzed using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) method. The average concentrations of Pb found in collected sludge samples, batch 1 (11.912 mg/kg dm) and batch 2 (5.304 mg/kg dm) were far below the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) maximum permissible concentration (840 mg/kg) for any land application. Cadmium was not detected in all the sludge samples collected;there is an implication that it is either completely absent in the sludge generated by the plant or present but far below detectable levels. The sludge generated from Lubigi fecal sludge and wastewater treatment plant is therefore safe for application on agricultural lands as far as Pb and Cd concentrations are concerned.

The Correlation of IFN <i>γ</i>to the Preferential Isolation of Influenza Type B over Type A Viruses in Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells

The isolation of influenza viruses in Madin Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cells has shown preferential isolation of a great percentage of Influenza B strains at the first passage than Influenza A strains. During in vitro isolation of Influenza viruses, majority of type A viruses are not confirmed as positive isolates by Hemagglutination (HA) assay despite having higher virulence and pathogenicity versus influenza B viruses. This study investigated the differences in IFN-γ and IL-10 cytokines secreted by MDCK cells upon exposure to the viruses and thus provided possible answers as to why influenza type B can easily be isolated from MDCK cells compared to influenza A. Positive influenza viruses were inoculated onto MDCK cells. IFN-γ and IL-10 cytokines stimulated by the viruses in MDCK cells were measured by indirect ELISA at 1 hour, 12 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours post inoculation (pi). A total of 46 specimens, with 23 specimens from each virus type were analyzed. IFN-γ was significantly higher at 1 hour pi in MDCK cells for influenza type A at p value of 0.024 than type B. No statistical significance was observed in means of cytokine IL-10 between influenza type A and type B. The study may show that IFN-γ is correlated to the preferential isolation of influenza type B over type A viruses. Anti-inflammatory cytokines may not necessarily be playing a role in the preferential growth of influenza type B, a less virulent type over influenza type A in MDCK cells.

Aflatoxin Contamination and Rancidity in Locally Processed Commercial Fish Feeds and Ingredients along the Value Chain in Wakiso and Kampala Districts, Uganda

Aflatoxin contamination and rancidity in locally processed commercial fish feeds and ingredients along value chains is a Public and Animal health hazard. The study established the level of aflatoxin contamination, peroxide value (PV), Anisidine value (AnV), and their associated factors at storage areas among farmers, processors, traders, factories, and landing sites in the Wakiso and Kampala districts. The value chain actors were purposively selected in a cross-sectional study based on access to the feed store and the use of locally processed commercial fish feeds on farms. Data collected were statistically analyzed in SPSS version 20. All the samples (45) were positive for aflatoxin contamination and PV with 51% (23/45) of samples being contaminated with “above acceptable” aflatoxin levels and 66.6% (30/45) of samples with “above acceptable” PV. The overall percentage of “above acceptable” AnV was 11/29 (37.9%). Samples from factories were within acceptable contamination levels. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed no significant difference between aflatoxin contamination, peroxide, and Anisidine value with storage factors for locally processed commercial fish feeds and ingredients. The study recommended the purchase of fish feeds from factories and a larger study on storage factors responsible for aflatoxin contamination and rancidity in fish feeds in Uganda.

The impact of poverty on dog ownership and access to canine rabies vaccination:results from a knowledge,attitudes and practices survey,Uganda 2013

Background:Rabies is a neglected disease despite being responsible for more human deaths than any other zoonosis.A lack of adequate human and dog surveillance,resulting in low prioritization,is often blamed for this paradox.Estimation methods are often employed to describe the rabies burden when surveillance data are not available,however these figures are rarely based on country-specific data.Methods:In 2013 a knowledge,attitudes,and practices survey was conducted in Uganda to understand dog population,rabies vaccination,and human rabies risk factors and improve in-country and regional rabies burden estimates.Poisson and multi-level logistic regression techniques were conducted to estimate the total dog population and vaccination coverage.Results:Twenty-four villages were selected,of which 798 households completed the survey,representing 4375 people.Dog owning households represented 12.9%of the population,for which 175 dogs were owned(25 people per dog).A history of vaccination was reported in 55.6%of owned dogs.Poverty and human population density highly correlated with dog ownership,and when accounted for in multi-level regression models,the human to dog ratio fell to 47:1 and the estimated national canine-rabies vaccination coverage fell to 36.1%.This study estimates there are 729486 owned dogs in Uganda(95%CI:719919-739053).Ten percent of survey respondents provided care to dogs they did not own,however unowned dog populations were not enumerated in this estimate.89.8%of Uganda’s human population was estimated to reside in a community that can support enzootic canine rabies transmission.Conclusions:This study is the first to comprehensively evaluate the effect of poverty on dog ownership in Africa.These results indicate that describing a dog population may not be as simple as applying a human:dog ratio,and factors such as poverty are likely to heavily influence dog ownership and vaccination coverage.These modelled estimates should be confirmed through further field studies,however,if validated,canine rabies elimination through mass vaccination may not be as difficult as previously considered in Uganda.Data derived from this study should be considered to improve models for estimating the in-country and regional rabies burden.

Prevalence of pathogenic free-living amoeba and other protozoa in natural and communal piped tap water from Queen Elizabeth protected area, Uganda

Background:Pathogenic water dwelling protozoa such as Acanthamoeba spp.,Hartmannella spp.,Naegleria spp.,Cryptosporidium spp.and Giardia spp.are often responsible for devastating illnesses especially in children and immunocompromised individuals,yet their presence and prevalence in certain environment in sub-Saharan Africa is still unknown to most researchers,public health officials and medical practitioners.The objective of this study was to establish the presence and prevalence of pathogenic free-living amoeba(FLA),Cryptosporidium and Giardia in Queen Elizabeth Protected Area(QEPA).Methods:Samples were collected from communal taps and natural water sites in QEPA.Physical water parameters were measured in situ.The samples were processed to detect the presence of FLA trophozoites by xenic cultivation,Cryptosporidium oocysts by Ziehl-Neelsen stain and Giardia cysts by Zinc Sulphate floatation technique.Parasites were observed microscopically,identified,counted and recorded.For FLA,genomic DNA was extracted for amplification and sequencing.Results:Both natural and tap water sources were contaminated with FLA,Cryptosporidium spp.and Giardia spp.All protozoan parasites were more abundant in the colder rainy season except for Harmannella spp.and Naegleria spp.which occurred more in the warmer months.The prevalence of all parasites was higher in tap water than in natural water samples.There was a strong negative correlation between the presence of Acanthamoeba spp.,Hartmannella spp.,Cryptosporidium spp.and Giardia spp.with Dissolved Oxygen(DO)(P<0.05).The presence of Cryptosporidium spp.showed a significant positive correlation(P<0.05)with conductivity,pH and Total Dissolved Solids(TDS);whereas the presence of Giardia spp.had only a strong positive correlation with TDS.Molecular genotyping of FLA produced 7 Acanthamoeba,5 Echinamoeba,2 Hartmannella,1 Bodomorpha,1 Nuclearia and 1 Cercomonas partial sequences.Conclusions:All water collection sites were found to be contaminated with pathogenic protozoa that could possibly be the cause of a number of silent morbidities and mortalities among rural households in QEPA.This implies that water used by communities in QEPA is of poor quality and predisposes them to a variety of protozoan infections including the FLA whose public health importance was never reported,thus necessitating adoption of proper water safety measures.

Comparative study of the effect of solvents on the efficacy of neonicotinoid insecticides against malaria vector populations across Africa

Background:New insecticides with a novel mode of action such as neonicotinoids have recently been recommended for public health by WHO.Resistance monitoring of such novel insecticides requires a robust protocol to monitor the development of resistance in natural populations.In this study,we comparatively used three different solvents to assess the susceptibility of malaria vectors to neonicotinoids across Africa.Methods:Mosquitoes were collected from May to July 2021 from three agricultural settings in Cameroon(Njombe-Penja,Nkolondom,and Mangoum),the Democratic Republic of Congo(Ndjili-Brasserie),Ghana(Obuasi),and Uganda(Mayuge).Using the CDC bottle test,we compared the effect of three different solvents(ethanol,acetone,MERO)on the efficacy of neonicotinoids againstAnopheles gambiae s.l.In addition,TaqMan assays were used to genotype key pyrethroid-resistant markers inAn.gambiae and odds ratio based on Fisher exact test were used to evaluate potential cross-resistance between pyrethroids and clothianidin.Results:Lower mortality was observed when using absolute ethanol or acetone alone as solvent for clothianidin(11.4-51.9% mortality in Nkolondom,31.7-48.2% in Mangoum,34.6-56.1% in Mayuge,39.4-45.6% in Obuasi,83.7-89.3% in Congo and 71.1-95.9% in Njombe pendja)compared to acetone+MERO for which 100% mortality were observed for all the populations.Similar observations were done for imidacloprid and acetamiprid.Synergist assays(PBO,DEM and DEF)with clothianidin revealed a significant increase of mortality suggesting that metabolic resistance mechanisms are contributing to the reduced susceptibility.A negative association was observed between the L1014F-kdr mutation and clothianidin resistance with a greater frequency of homozygote resistant mosquitoes among the dead than among survivors(OR=0.5;P=0.02).However,the I114T-GSTe2 was in contrast significantly associated with a greater ability to survive clothianidin with a higher frequency of homozygote resistant among survivors than other genotypes(OR=2.10;P=0.013).Conclusions:This study revealed a contrasted susceptibility pattern depending on the solvents with ethanol/acetone resulting to lower mortality,thus possibly overestimating resistance,whereas the MERO consistently showed a greater efficacy of neonicotinoids but it could prevent to detect early resistance development.Therefore,we recommend monitoring the susceptibility using both acetone alone and acetone+MERO(4μg/ml for clothianidin)to capture the accurate resistance profile of the mosquito populations.