Articles

Background: Although illegal, Ghana has a long history of cannabis use. With changing perceptions, advocacy for legalization has increased globally. This study exams pharmacological evidence on the prospects and challenges of decriminalization and /or legalization of cannabis in Ghana. Results: Cannabis and cannabinoids are a “pharmacological enigma” with unique ability to activate at least 3 of the 4 drug receptor super families. This include; inotropic Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), metabotropic Cannabinoid Receptors (CB) and nuclear Peroxisome Proliferator Activator Receptors (PPAR). Cannabinoid receptors also dimerize with other receptors creating distinctly new signaling pathways. Cannabis and cannabinoids show good anti- nociceptive, anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressant anti-emetogenic activity and variable anticonvulsant activity. It can play important role in palliative care, some rare intractable epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, cachexia and Opioid Use Disorder. Cannabis precipitates psychosis in individuals with underlying genetic susceptibility. Chronic cannabis use alter the neurobiology of adolescent brain, predisposing them to amotivational syndrome characterized by depersonalization and inhibited motivation for goal directed behavior. Cannabis is also a “gateway drug”; ushering users to “harder” substances of abuse and reinstating extinguished drug seeking behaviours. The recent tramadol abuse in Ghana may have been precipitated by previous and concurrent cannabis use. Furthermore, Ghana’s cannabis may have a higher propensity to induce detrimental effects because of preferential accumulation the psychotropic delta-9-Tetrathydrocannabinol as a result of the high tropical temperature and humidity. Conclusion: There is not sufficient pharmacological evidence supporting criminalization of medical cannabis in Ghana. However, the same evidence does not support legalization of recreational cannabis.

We explored if adolescents with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) had functional postural control impairments and how these deficits are linked to a disturbance in the processing and integration of sensory information. We evaluated the displacements of the center of pressure (COP) during maximal leaning in four directions (forward, backward, rightward, leftward) and under three sensory conditions (eyes open, eyes closed, eyes closed standing on foam). GTS adolescents showed deficits in postural stability and in lateral postural adjustments but they had similar maximal COP excursion than the control group. The postural performance of the GTS group was poorer in the eyes open condition (time to phase 1 onset, max-mean COP). Moreover, they displayed a poorer ability to maintain the maximum leaning position under the eyes open condition during mediolateral leaning tasks. By contrast, during forward leaning, they showed larger min-max ranges than control subjects while standing on the foam with the eyes closed. Together, these findings support the idea that GTS produces subclinical postural control deficits. Importantly, our results suggest that postural control disorders in GTS are highly sensitive to voluntary postural leaning tasks which have high demand for multimodal sensory integration.

This cross-sectional study was conducted to screen the presence of antibiotic residue in poultry. A total of 60 samples (30 Muscle and 30 Liver) were taken from local meat shops from different parts of Kathmandu valley. Disc assay method was used. Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Staphylococcus aureusi (ATCC 25923) were used as test organisms. The results revealed 8 positive samples (which is 13%). Among 30 Liver samples, 3 showed positive result, while only 2 muscle sample indicated positive result. Muscle has the highest percentage of positive results than liver. For S. aureus showed greater percentage of positive results than that of E. coli. The presence of antibiotic residue and its many pathological effects to public health demands the strict rules and regulations as well as surveillance from the concerned authorities.

Background: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) promotes antibody production. The objective of this study was to investigate whether IL-6 C-572G single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and clinical factors are associated with positive platelet antibody test. Materials and methods: Thirty platelet recipients with platelet antibodies (responders) and 20 platelet recipients without platelet antibodies (non-responders) were randomly selected. The -572 C>G (rs 1800796) SNPs in the promoter region of IL-6 gene were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) method. Solid phase red cell adherence assay (SPRCA) was used for platelet antibody detection. Results: Age, sex, percentage patients with benign diseases, and percentage of patients with homozygotes for the C allele at position -572 of the IL-6 gene were similar between responders and non-responders. Although the amounts of platelets pheresis transfused to patients with hematologic diseases were higher than those of non-hematologic diseases (47.2 ± 54.2 vs. 17.4 ± 13.8 units, p = 0.019), detection rate of platelet antibodies was lower in patients with hematologic diseases than that in patients with non-hematologic diseases (42.3% vs. 79.2%, p = 0.01). Conclusion: There was no association between IL-6 C-572G gene polymorphism and positive reactivity in solid phase platelet antibody detection method in platelet recipients.

Chronic prostatitis today show high level of relapses and recurrent pathological events even if using the best pharmacological therapy. A better understanding of physiopathological effect of ischemic hypoxic condition (pelvic, prostate tissue) and the lymphatic congestion in same body region contribute in evolution of a complex condition. The same focusing the strategy in biofilm reduction or in leukocyte infiltration can be a right way to reduce relapses and progression of the prostatic disease. Hypoxia is also related to prostatic cancer progression and prostatic biofilm if responsible of making a new micro- environment often drug resistance. A deep knowledge in this kind of phenomena can improve the clinical effect of drug therapy.

Drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) syndrome is a severe multiorgan hypersensitivity reaction mostly caused by several eliciting drugs in patients with a genetic predisposition. Incidence of DRESS in children is very variable, frome 1:1000 to 1:10.000, and the mortality rate seems to be lower than 10%. Anti-convulsants are the main drugs involved both in adults and in children. The treatment of choice is the prompt withdrawn of the offending drug and using intravenous immunoglobulins and corticosteroids used in synergy. In recent years, emerging studies have outlined the disease more clearly. We present a pediatric case in which the patient developed DRESS syndrome as a result of exposure to lamotrigine before and carbamazepine after and a relapse after exposure to omeprazole. Starting from this case report we provide an overview on DRESS Syndrome.

Background: School nurses possess an essential role in treating and helping children maintain health. However, the full scope of their role has not been identified by parents. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore parents’ perceptions of the role of the school nurse. Methods: Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. One hundred eighty parents participated in the study. The perception of the roles of school nurses was assessed by a 16-item questionnaire, which was adapted from a study by Kirchofer, et al. 2007. Results: The four most important school nurses’ roles perceived by the parents were providing first aid and emergency care to children, communicating with parents and health care providers in the presence of a problem, providing medical treatment, and preventing and controlling diseases. Conclusion: School nurses have many important roles, and while parents identified some essential roles, they did not recognize other vital roles as being very important. Increasing awareness of school nurses’ multifaceted roles among parents is essential so that they can utilize nurses’ expertise in maintaining their student’s health as well as tap into a key resource in the coordination of care for their child.

The diagnosis of acute necrotising pancreatitis is a rare event in the Paediatric Emergency Department (ED). We report a case of acute pancreatitis in a paediatric patient, diagnosed in our ED, a tertiary level paediatric hospital. This child presented with vague symptoms of constipation, abdominal pain and back pain, and on clinical examination had a distended abdomen with peritonism. She rapidly deteriorated and needed aggressive fluid resuscitation in the ED for treatment of septic shock. The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis (AP) was only considered once elevated amylase levels were apparent. Whilst AP is an important differential diagnosis in a patient who is presenting with acute abdominal symptoms, the diagnosis in children in particular is seldom and thus easily overlooked in the previously healthy child.

Juvenile xanthogranuloma (JXG) is a rare form of non-Langherans cell histiocytosis (non-LCH) observed almost exclusively in infants and young children. It is rarely systemic, involving extracutaneous sites, such as the liver, lungs, spleen, kidney, pancreas, bone or central nervous system. Systemic JXG may be associated with significant complications requiring aggressive medical or surgery care; especially, central nervous system lesions are difficult to treat and reported to be possibly fatal. Clinical presentation of JXG of central nervous system is not specific and is related to the involved site while magnetic resonance imaging examination remains the first choice for localizing the lesions. If no other system is involved, surgical excision could be sufficient.

Shellfish are extensively consumed worldwide because of their nutritional value. In general they are good sources of low-fat protein rich in several essential vitamins and minerals as well as in the essential nutrients omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFAs) [1]. Shellfish belongs to “The Big 8” food groups causing allergy, which often does not outgrow during childhood. However, increase in IgE – mediated sea food allergy has been linked to shellfish. Seafood- associated shellfish include crustaceans & molluskans [2]. These may cause mild local symptoms & lead to severe systemic anaphylactic reactions by ingestion, inhalation, or contact. Globally, the prevalence of shellfish allergy estimated to be 0.5% to 2.5% of the general population [3]. There are limited data showing the prevalence of shellfish allergy in children. A study on US pediatric population showed 1.3% of shellfish allergy. Children were more allergic to crustacean (1.2%) than mollusks (0.5%) [4]. Tropomyosin is the major allergen.