Non-invasive methods for monitoring reproductive status based on the measurement of urinary steroid conjugates were examined. Levels of urinary oestrone-3-glucuronide, oestrone-3-sulphate, oestradiol glucuronide, oestradiol sulphate and pregnanediol-3 alpha-glucuronide were determined during the ovarian cycle and pregnancy. Sequential hydrolysis showed oestradiol conjugates to be more abundant than oestrone conjugates. The levels of sulphates and glucuronides were similar in the follicular phase whereas sulphates predominated during the luteal phase and pregnancy. Although levels of oestrone-3-sulphate were two- to fourfold lower than those of oestradiol sulphate, measured after hydrolysis, the profiles throughout the cycle and pregnancy were similar. Levels of oestrone-3-sulphate, measured by direct assay, were below 1 mumol/mmol creatinine during the follicular phase, rising 3-4 days after ovulation to reach maximum values (2-8 mumol/mmol creatinine) in the mid-luteal phase. There was no consistent increase before ovulation. Levels during pregnancy rose gradually until days 70-90, after which there was no further increase (gestation length = 144 days). The pattern of pregnanediol-3 alpha-glucuronide was similar to that of oestrone-3-sulphate during the ovarian cycle but levels did not increase during pregnancy. The patterns of excretion of oestrogen and progesterone metabolites were similar to the pattern of the circulating hormones during the ovarian cycle. Circulating and urinary hormone patterns were similar for oestrogens throughout pregnancy but pregnanediol-3 alpha-glucuronide did not reflect progesterone secretion beyond day 70 of gestation.

Plasmodium falciparum malaria causes 1-2 million deaths per year. Most deaths occur as a result of complications such as severe anemia and cerebral malaria (CM) (coma). Red cells of children with severe malaria-associated anemia (SMA) have acquired deficiencies in the complement regulatory proteins complement receptor 1 (CR1, CD35) and decay accelerating factor (DAF, CD55). We investigated whether these deficiencies affect the ability of erythrocytes to bind immune complexes (ICs) and regulate complement activation. We recruited 75 children with SMA (Hb ≤ 6 g/dL) from the holoendemic malaria region of the Lake Victoria basin, western Kenya, and 74 age-and gender-matched uncomplicated malaria controls. In addition, we recruited 32 children with CM and 52 age-and gender-matched controls. Deficiencies in red cell CR1 and CD55 in children with SMA were accompanied by a marked decline in IC binding capacity and increased C3b deposition in vivo and ex vivo. Importantly, these changes were specific because they were not seen in red cells of children with CM or their controls. These data suggest that the declines in red cell CR1 and CD55 seen in children with SMA are of physiologic significance and may predispose erythrocytes to complement-mediated damage and phagocytosis in vivo. Online address: http://www.molmed.org doi: 10.2119/2007-00093. Owuor result of IC formation and complement activation that occur during malaria infection (12)(13)(14)(15).We have shown that red cells of children with SMA have decreased levels of CR1 and CD55 (14,16,17). We hypothesized that these changes could translate into a decreased functional capacity to bind ICs and prevent complement deposition, which could result in their increased rate of destruction. To test our hypothesis we carried out a case-control study in children with SMA and age and gender-matched symptomatic uncomplicated malaria controls and determined their levels of erythrocyte CR1 and CD55, their erythrocyte IC binding capacity, and the susceptibility of their red cells to complement deposition in vivo and ex vivo. As an additional comparison group, we recruited children with cerebral malaria (CM) and age-and gender-matched symptomatic uncomplicated malaria controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study Design and PopulationsParticipants were recruited under a human use protocol approved by the Human Use Research Committee, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and the National Ethics Review Committee of the Kenya Medical Research Institute. Informed consent was obtained from all parents or guardians. The study had a matched case-control design. SMA cases, defined as children with asexual P. falciparum parasitemia by Giemsastained thick and thin blood smear and Hb ≤ 6 g/dL, were recruited from the pediatric ward of the Nyanza Provincial General Hospital (NPGH), Kisumu, Kenya, where malaria is holoendemic. Because CM is uncommon in this area, CM cases were recruited from the pediatric ward of the Kisii District Hospital (KDH), as well as from the NPGH. KDH is located in t...

In Uganda, bacterial and fungal infections are prevalent especially, the sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS. Because of low socio‐economic empowerment, traditional beliefs and cultural barriers, the suffering people resort to use of herbal remedies in search of cure especially for rural women who rarely discuss/disclose diseases affecting secretive body parts. The study documented 67 medicinal plants distributed among 27 families and 51 genera used to treat fungal and bacterial infections in and around Queen Elizabeth Biosphere Reserve in western Uganda. The highest numbers of species were from Families Lamiaceae (13) and Asteraceae (11). The most commonly harvested plant parts were leaves (88.1%) and roots (23.9%). The most common growth form harvested were herbs (47.8%) and most of the medicinal plants used were wild species (67.2%). The main methods of herbal drug preparation were by squeezing, boiling and pounding and were mainly orally administered. However, most of the steamed plant species were inserted in the birth canal besides oral administration. Some plants such as Allium sativum, Aloe vera and Ocimum gratissimum are topically applied on the affected body parts. This vital indigenous knowledge about healing secretive and discrete diseases among the marginalized population requires urgent ethnobotanical studies to sustain livelihoods.

The usage of medicinal plants in childbirth in Uganda is a long standing tradition. Over 80% of Ugandan women have childbirth at home and herbal remedies are administered to complete the process of childbirth. The herbs are administered to hasten the labour process (oxytocics), expulsion of retained placenta and control postpartum bleeding. This indigenous knowledge in herbal medicines used during childbirth is not well documented and scientifically validated. The ethnobotanical study was conducted between 2000 and 2003 in Bushenyi and Kasese districts in western Uganda. The aim of this study was to validate the claimed uses of Bidens pilosa L. and Luffa cylindrica (L). M.J. Roem. in inducing labour during childbirths in western Uganda. The in vitro experiments using the rat uterus showed that the aqueous leafy extracts of B. pilosa and L. cylindrica increased rat uterine motility suggesting that they are oxytocics. The aqueous leafy extract of B. pilosa in vitro experiment using the rabbit jejunum further indicated that the extract can cause contraction. The bioactivity of B. pilosa and L. cylindrica is a pointer to the therapeutic uses of herbal remedies in childbirth.

Studies with four benzoquinones, viz. juglone, embelin, maesaquinone and maesanin, on rat liver mitochondria oxidative phosphorylation have been carried out. Three of the benzoquinones are uncouplers in the order juglone > maesoquinone > embelin, while maesanin is an inhibitor of electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation.