No abstract

An important approach in rabies control is to increase community awareness, particularly among healthcare providers. It was found that basic management issues and insufficient awareness still exist despite the presence of legal regulations. To control rabies, the issue must be dealt with locally, through both economic and social means, by supporting rabies control efforts of local health and agricultural directorate managers and by encouraging collaboration with academics.

Background Hepatitis C infection represents a common healthcare issue worldwide. The present trial was designed to investigate the role of prolidase, an enzyme that is significantly involved in the biosynthesis of collagen, and of the oxidative stress that is considered to be involved in the pathogenesis of various diseases, in the chronic hepatitis C infection. The trial was performed to assess the serum prolidase enzyme level and the oxidative–antioxidative status and to determine the relation between the serum prolidase activity and the oxidative stress parameters. Methods A total of 95 individuals, including 55 patients with chronic hepatitis C infection (CHC) and 40 healthy adults, were enrolled in the trial. The values for prolidase, the total antioxidant status (TAS), the total oxidative stress (TOS), the oxidative stress index (OSI), sulfhydryl (SH), lipid peroxidation LOOH, catalase (CAT), and ceruloplasmin were measured and compared between the patient groups. Results The prolidase, TOS, LOOH, CAT, and the OSI values were higher in the chronic hepatitis C group compared to the control group (P < 0.001). The TAS, SH, and ceruloplasmin levels were lower in the CHC group relative to the control group (P < 0.001). Conclusion We suppose that the values of prolidase and the oxidative stress are increased while the antioxidant levels are decreased in CHC. As a result, prolidase and the oxidative stress seem to be related with the progression of the disease. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 26:232‐237, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The findings demonstrated that the children of migratory seasonal farm workers were defined as a high-risk group in terms of nutritional status, intestinal parasites and physchomotor development delay. Therefore, the effective delivery of mobile environmental and individual primary healthcare services to the farm workers' children must be ensured both while residing in the agricultural zone and in their permanent addresses.

The aim of this study was to determine and evaluate the activity of paraoxonase and arylesterase enzymes in various clinical forms of hepatitis B infection and to investigate the correlation between these parameters and chronic disease course/fibrosis. Overall, 40 patients diagnosed as hepatitis B carriers (CIHBV), 40 chronic active hepatitis B (CAHBV) patients, and 40 healthy adults (control group) between 18 and 65 years of age were enrolled the study. Serum paraoxonase and arylesterase activities were measured spectrophotometrically. Their activities were significantly lower in patients with CAHBV compared with CIHBV patients or with control group patients (P<0.001). There was a negative correlation between alanine aminotransferase levels and the activity of paraoxonase and arylesterase (r = -0.38, P = 0.001 and r = -0.28, P = 0.002, respectively). A statistically significant negative correlation was found between arylesterase activity in the sera of CAHBV patients and HBV DNA levels (ρ = -0.33, P = 0.03). On the contrary, no correlation was found between paraoxonase levels and HBV DNA levels (P>0.05). The histology activity index of CAHBV patients did not correlate with paraoxonase and arylesterase activities (P>0.05). In light of these findings, it may be assumed that during the progression of an inactive hepatitis B carrier to being actively infected, reduced paraoxonase and arylesterase activities may be observed.