Objective. To determine the prevalence and the genotypes ofEnterocytozoon bieneusiin stool specimens from HIV patients.Methods. This cross-sectional study was carried out in Kinshasa hospitals between 2009 and 2012. Detection of microsporidia includingE. bieneusiandE. intestinaliswas performed in 242 HIV-infected patients. Typing was based on DNA polymorphism of the ribosomal DNA ITS region ofE. bieneusi. PCRRFLP generated with two restriction enzymes (Nla III and Fnu 4HI) in PCR-amplified ITS products for classifying strains into different lineages. The diagnosis performance of the indirect immune-fluorescence-monoclonal antibody (IFI-AcM) was defined in comparison with real-time PCR as the gold standard.Results. Out of 242 HIV-infected patients, using the real-time PCR, the prevalence ofE. bieneusiwas 7.9% (n=19) among the 19E. bieneusi, one was coinfected withE. intestinalis. In 19E. bieneusipersons using PCR-RFLP method, 5 type I strains ofE. bieneusi(26.3%) and 5 type IV strains ofE. bieneusi(26.3%) were identified. The sensitivity of IFI-AcM was poor as estimated 42.1%.Conclusion. Despite different PCR methods, there is possible association between HIVinfection, geographic location (France, Cameroun, Democratic Republic of Congo), and the concurrence of type I and type IV strains.

Background: Conflicting information exists regarding the association between insulin resistance (IR) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).We described the associations between obesity, fasting insulinemia, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and LVH in Black patients with essential hypertension.Methods: A case-control study was conducted at the Centre Médical de Kinshasa (CMK), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, between January and December 2019. Cases and controls were hypertensive patients with and without LVH, respectively. The relationships between obesity indices, physical inactivity, glucose metabolism and lipid disorder parameters, and LVH were assessed using linear and logistic regression analyses in simple and univariate exploratory analyses, respectively. When differences were observed between LVH and independent variables, the effects of potential confounders were studied through the use of multiple linear regression and in conditional logistic regression in multivariate analyses. The coefficients of determination (R2), adjusted odds ratios (aORs), and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to determine associations between LVH and the independent variables.Results: Eighty-eight LVH cases (52 men) were compared against 132 controls (81 men). Variation in left ventricular mass (LVM) could be predicted by the following variables: age (19%), duration of hypertension (31.3%), body mass index (BMI, 44.4%), waist circumference (WC, 42.5%), glycemia (20%), insulinemia (44.8%), and HOMA-IR (43.7%). Hypertension duration, BMI, insulinemia, and HOMA-IR explained 68.3% of LVM variability in the multiple linear regression analysis. In the logistic regression model, obesity increased the risk of LVH by 3-fold [aOR: 2.8; 95% CI (1.06–7.4); p = 0.038], and IR increased the risk of LVH by 8-fold [aOR: 8.4; 95: (3.7–15.7); p < 0.001].Conclusion: Obesity and IR appear to be the primary predictors of LVH in Black sub-Saharan African hypertensive patients. The comprehensive management of cardiovascular risk factors should be emphasized, with particular attention paid to obesity and IR. A prospective population-based study of Black sub-Saharan individuals that includes the use of serial imaging remains essential to better understand subclinical LV deterioration over time and to confirm the role played by IR in Black sub-Saharan individuals with hypertension.

Background The health benefits of regular physical activity (PA) are well documented. However, several people in both developed and developing countries do not meet PA recommendations. Health professionals are believed to be potential PA promoters. The purpose of this study is to gain insight into general and specialist practitioners' knowledge, practices and PA prescription-related factors in private and public hospitals in Kinshasa. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among general and specialist practitioners in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital using a declarative and anonymous questionnaire. Results Overall, 40.2% of the participants were interested in their patient’s PA, 2.3% prescribed PA, and 0.9% did it correctly. Specialist physicians (SPs) prescribed PA more frequently than general practitioners (GP), and private hospital physicians prescribed PA more frequently than public hospital physicians. Five factors were independently associated with participants in prescribing PA: being in a private hospital increased the likelihood of prescribing PA by twofold (aOR, 1.83; 95% CI, 0.99–3.39; p = 0.055), being an SP increased the likelihood by sixfold (aOR, 6.22; 95% CI, 3.78–10.51; p = 0.000), being an internist increase the likelihood by sixfold (aOR, 5.81; 95% CI, 3.45–9.78; p = 0.000), being cardiologist by a factor of 12 (aOR, 12.91; 95% CI, 4.37–38.15; p = 0.000) and knowing the benefits of PA by a factor of 2 (aOR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.29–4.08; p = 0.006). The most common reason given for a lack of interest in patients' PA, followed by a lack of knowledge about current PA prescribing recommendations and a lack of time. Conclusions SPs and professionals in the private health sector were the most interested in their patients’ PA. A small portion of them actually prescribed it, and only a tiny proportion did it correctly. This bleak picture highlights a need to rethink the undergraduate medical curricula, especially about teachings on the importance and use of PA as a medicine in its own right in disease prevention and treatment.