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Among the abounding lessons we learned from the SARS-C0V-2 pandemic is the uttermost determinant that people are not equal before the severity of COVID-19. Indeed, the disease course differs with age, gender, ethnicity, underlying clinical conditions and virus variants. Other diseases modifying factors are associated with genetic traits such as those driving the immune response, the blood groups, the coagulation system and the ACE2 receptor variants [1-4].

Background: Prophylactic dental procedures following implant placement are critical to the long-term success of implants and are also dependent on the patient maintaining effective home care.Purpose: Evaluation of the effectiveness of preventive measures in patients with diabetes during long periods after prosthetic treatment with implants.Materials and methods: The study included 62 patients with diabetes with edentulism using 146 dental implants. Patients underwent constant monitoring, including regular occupational hygiene during follow-up examinations. Their frequency was set individually from 2 to 4 times A clinical index including Bleeding on Probing (BOP), Probing Depth (PD), and Marginal Bone Loss (MBL). Results: In patients included in the preventive protocol after 12 months, the mean BOP was 1.4 ± 0.15, and PPD was 2.46 ± 0.42. After 12 months in patients mean MBL was 0.72 ± 0.6 mm, after 3 years MBL was 1.24 ± 0.25 mm. For patients who were excluded from preventive services after 12 months, the mean BOP 1.9 ± 0.25, and the mean PPD was 3.56 ± 0.28). After 12 months in patients mean MBL was 0.87 ± 0.7 mm, after 3 years MBL was 1.52 ± 0.32 mm (p > 05). Compared to persons enrolled in the preventive protocol, those in the group without services were more likely to develop peri-implantitis (42.4% vs. 12,6%). The survival rate of implants after 3 years was 98.4%. The survival rate of implants in those patients who were excluded from preventive services after 3 years was 95.4%.Conclusion: For patients with diabetes, regular medical examinations, accompanied by professional oral hygiene procedures, prevent the development of negative reactions of the soft tissues surrounding the implant.

Background and aim: Metabolic abnormalities are common in HIV/AIDS. Increasingly, lipid ratios are used as screening tools for dyslipidaemia in these medical conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of 4 lipid ratios to predict cardiovascular risks. Methods: This is a cross-sectional and analytical study included 105 HIV+ patients followed in Kinshasa University Teaching Hospital (KUTH). Four indices [Atherogenic Index of Plasma (AIP), Castelli Risk Index (CRI) I and II, Atherogenic coefficient (AC)] were compared. Statistical analyzis consisted of measuring frequencies and means, Student’s t-tests, ANOVA and Ficher’s exact test, and the calculation of the Kappa value. Results: Lipid ratios predicted respectively the risk in 62% (AIP), 28.6% (CRI-I) and 23.8% (CRI-II). CRI-I and II were elevated, especially in women. The AIP appeared to be a better predictor than CRI-I and II to assess dyslipidaemia in general and the high-risk frequency. The cholesterol detected risk in 66.7% (Low HDL-C), 50% (High LDL-C), 38.9% (High TC and/or TG). The atherogenic risk was higher with age, advanced WHO stage, HIV-TB, HBV-HCV co-infections, smoking and alcohol intake. Haemoglobin (Hb) and CD4 counts were low when the risk was high. Age ≥ 50 years, stage 4 (WHO), CD4s+ ≤ 200 cells/µL were independent factors associated with atherogenic risk. Conclusion: Lipid ratios can be used as reliable tools for assessing cardiovascular risk of naïve HIV-infected patients who received HAART.

Artocarpus (Moraceae) is a deciduous tree with appreciable importance as a source of edible fruit and is widely used in folk medicines. The extracts and metabolites of Artocarpus heterophyllus particularly those from leaves, bark, stem and fruit possess several useful bioactive compounds. This review indents to compile various studies on A. heterophyllus and critically evaluates its ethnomedical and ethnopharmacological properties. Several pharmacological studies from A. heterophyllus have conclusively established their mode of action in anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticancer activities. Based on the available data, it is concluded that Artocarpus as a promising source of useful products and opens up new avenues for novel therapeutics.

Acute and subacute ischemia of the lower limbs represents a major emergency with a high in-hospital mortality, complication, and leg amputation rates. Treatment options for acute limb ischemia include systemic anticoagulation, followed by various catheter based options including infusion of fibrinolytic agents (pharmacological thrombolysis), pharmacomechanical thrombolysis, catheter-mediated thrombus aspiration, mechanical thrombectomy, and any combination of the above or open surgical intervention (thromboembolectomy or surgical bypass). Minor and major bleeding complication during catheter directed thrombolysis (CDT) especially at access site are frequent. Bleeding complications require often an interruption or termination of CDT affecting clinical outcome of the patients. Recently we examined a new access site bleeding protection device during CDT.

Science is not inherently dogmatic. On the contrary, in our opinion and according to Bachelard, it often breaks with certain dogmas [1]. That is why it must have the necessary flexibility to be able to analyze and incorporate exceptional situations. In this regard, the current Coronavirus pandemic is an exceptional situation causing several thousand deaths a day.

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global crisis, straining healthcare systems and leaving us with limited options to combat drug-resistant bacteria. This retrospective, cross-sectional study examines the prevalence of antibiotic resistance patterns among urinary tract infections (UTIs) in Al-Shifa Hospital’s medical departments in comparison with non-medical departments using data from microbiology laboratory archives over a one-year period. From the examined urine cultures about 25% were obtained from internal medicine departments and double the number was obtained from non-medical departments. The positive rate was around 35% and about two-thirds of the samples were collected from female patients. Among all departments, Enterobacteriaceae spp. were found to be the most frequently isolated uropathogens, accounting for 80% of cases. However, resistance rates varied depending on the specific organism and antibiotic used. For instance, E. coli showed a resistance rate of only 5% against meropenem, while amoxicillin-clavulanic acid exhibited a resistance rate exceeding 95%.Importantly, the study revealed a significant disparity in resistance rates between medical and non-medical departments, specifically concerning third-generation cephalosporins. In internal medicine departments, resistance rates were alarmingly high, with cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, and ceftazidime showing resistance rates of 75%, 75% and 66.5% respectively. In contrast, non-medical departments displayed lower resistance rates, approximately 60%, 60% and 40%, respectively.In summary, this research sheds light on the escalating problem of antibiotic resistance in UTIs and emphasizes the discrepancy in resistance rates between medical and non-medical departments. Urgent efforts are required to address this issue and find effective solutions to prevent the rise of untreatable bacterial infections.

Background: Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) pain attributed to myalgia is a common condition and patients should get advice on the best treatment option. Objectives: The aim was to evaluate the effect of two different exercise programs, or bite splint therapy, respectively, in patients with chronic frequent primary myofascial orofacial pain. Methods: The study was a randomized clinical trial including patients fulfilling criteria of chronic frequent primary myofascial orofacial pain with a reported pain intensity of ≥ 4 on a numerical rating scale (0-10). Ninety subjects were randomized to either bite splint, home exercises, or a supervised exercise program. Two examiners blinded to the treatment modality examined the same subject at baseline and a 3-month follow-up. Non-parametric statistical methods were applied for the outcome of treatment in intended-to-treat analyses. A P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The pain severity index was significantly reduced (p < 0.001) in all treatment groups. Jaw opening capacity improved significantly (p < 0.05) for those randomized to bite splint and for those in the home exercise program. About 70% of the participants reported improvement in their TMD pain severity with no significant difference between treatments. Both exercise groups improved in jaw function at the 3-month follow-up compared to baseline. Those who had a bite splint reported significantly more improvement in their headaches compared to those in the exercise programs. Conclusion: Jaw exercise programs and bite splint treatments had similar positive effects on TMD pain severity attributed to myalgia after 3 months.

Spinal muscular atrophy is an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disorder characterized by progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. It is one of the most common single-gene disorders with an incidence rate of approximately 1 in 10,000 live births. The clinical manifestations are progressive hypotonia and muscle weakness due to the degeneration of alpha neurons in the anterior horn cells of the spinal cord and motor nuclei in the lower brain stem. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, SMA has five subtypes. Supportive measures can be offered for respiratory, gastrointestinal, and musculoskeletal complications. Carrier testing for all couples is recommended and this can be done by Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA). Prenatal diagnosis can be offered to carrier couples. Therapies must be given within the newborn period for maximum benefit and before the loss of motor neurons. It is achieved by identifying the SMA babies through Newborn screening. Several new FDA-approved drugs can reduce the progression of symptoms in SMA. However, they cannot offer a definite cure. Clinical follow-up and Neurological assessment demonstrate that SMA children can attain developmental milestones after receiving treatment, which is never normally attained in untreated cases. In utero SMA treatment with Zolgensma would enhance the survival rate and favorable neurological outcomes in the future. Base editing and Gene editing with CRISPR-Cas technologies to target the mutations and restore functional and stable SMN protein levels are the future hopes for a permanent cure of SMA.

Cystoisosporiasis (formerly isosporiasis) is caused by Cystoisospora belli (erstwhile named Isospora belli) is encountered globally, particularly in tropical and subtropical regions. Cystoisosporiasis is a human intestinal disease whose etiology is the parasite Cystoisospora belli with infection frequent in immunocompromised subjects, principally HIV-infected and AIDS patients. This coccidium parasite infects the epithelial cells and lining of the villi of the small and large intestines. C. belli is the least frequent of the three intestinal coccidia, viz: Cryptosporidium, microsporidium and C. belli which perturb humans. The clinical presentation of cystoisosporiasis gives a semblance of inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as other gastrointestinal symptoms, nausea, vomiting and diarhoea found in COVID-19, AIDS and HIV-infected patients. Research has not presented comorbid features of COVID-19 and cystoisosporiasis. The oocytes of C. belli are visualizable microscopically on wet mounts via bright-field, differential interference contrast (DIC) and epifluorescence. Trimethoprin sulfamethoxazole constitute the normal treatment of choice. C. belli,HIV-infected/AIDS and COVID-19 patients have clinicopathological correlates necessary to elucidate comorbidities and mechanisms of the diseases.