Background: Acute toxoplasmosis in pregnant women presents a high risk of Toxoplasma transmission to the fetus. Early diagnosis is difficult, especially when serological testing for IgG/IgM antibodies fail to differentiate between a recent and a past infection. In this case, we rely on IgG avidity or PCR assays.Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare conventional ELISA and IgG avidity, with PCR using B1 and P30 primers for the early diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women.Methods: Sera were collected from 143 pregnant women and measured by ELISA for anti-Toxoplasma IgG, IgM, IgA and IgG avidity. DNA was extracted from 57 peripheral blood and 14 amniotic fluid samples for PCR amplification.Results: A total of 57 out 143 women were seropositive: 30 (52.6%) were IgG+/IgM- and 27 (43.8%) were IgG+/IgM+; IgA antibodies were positive in 7 (12.2%) cases. IgG avidity was low in 9 women suggesting an acute infection; 3 women presented an intermediate avidity. PCR detected Toxoplasma DNA in 9 women presenting low avidity and was negative for the intermediate avidity cases.Conclusion: PCR combined to avidity IgG performed better than ELISA IgG, IgM and/or IgA assays alone. PCR was useful in the case of intermediate avidity.Keywords: Toxoplasmosis, pregnant women, serology, IgG avidity, PCR

Several new sulfamidocarbonyloxyphosphonates were prepared in two steps, namely carbamoylation and sulfamoylation, by using chlorosulfonyl isocyanate (CSI), α-hydroxyphosphonates, and various amino derivatives and related (primary or secondary amines, β-amino esters, and oxazolidin-2-ones). All structures were confirmed by ¹H, ¹³C, and ³¹P NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, and mass spectroscopy, as well as elemental analysis. Eight compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antibacterial activity against four reference bacteria including Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), and Gram-negative Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Klebsiella pneumonia (ATCC 700603), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), in addition to three clinical strains of each studied bacterial species. Compounds 1a–7a and 1b showed significant antibacterial activity compared to sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, the reference drug used in this study.

Fructose consumption is associated with the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in human and animal models.This study investigates the ability of an aqueous extract of Artemisia he...

Objective: Prostate cancer (PCa) is a major public health problem worldwide, with high morbidity and mortality levels. Advanced age, androgen stimulation, and ethnicity have been reported to be possible risk factors. It has been suggested that particular genetic polymorphisms in glutathione S-transferases (GST), xenobiotic-metabolising enzymes, could predispose to prostate cancer through heritable deficiency in detoxification of environmental carcinogens. Conflicts in the published results and the absence of similar in depth studies in Algeria prompted us to perform the present case-control study of GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphisms and their possible association with PCa in an Algerian population. Methods: We determined GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes for 49 histologically verified prostate cancer patients and in 41 age-matched healthy controls by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using peripheral blood DNA samples. Result: While an association between the GSTM1 null genotype and PCa risk (OR= 3.69, 95% CI= 1.30-10.44; P = 0.01) was evident, the GSTT1 null genotype (OR= 0.92, 95% IC= 0.32-2.62; P = 0.49) appeared without influence. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences between the double null genotype and PCa is detected, also no statistically significant differences between smoking status and PCa is detected. Conclusion: The GSTM1 null genotype may increase individual susceptibility to prostate cancer. On the other hand, the null-activity genotype of GSTT1 did not appear to contribute to the risk of prostate cancer in our population.