International Medical Journal

Obesity has reached epidemic proportion in India with morbid obesity affecting 5% of country’s population. As the rate of Obesity climbs, obesity related diseases and conditions follow with similar rates. Adipose tissue is an active endocrine organ that releases several cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6 TNF-α and adipokines such as leptin, adiponectin, hepcidin, resistin. This study is to analyze if there is any association of Obesity with Hepcidin in men. This case-control study was conducted at a tertiary care centre in Tamil Nadu between Dec 2013 and Nov 2014, including 80 subjects of South Indian population, of male sex. The biochemical parameters which were measured included the levels of hepcidin, ferritin, iron and TIBC. The results obtained were statistically analyzed using SPSS software version 15.0. Mean and Standard deviation were found for all parameters. Independent sample t-test and ANOVA were performed to check for the statistical significance for differences in mean between the groups. The mean hepcidin values for the control group was 756 ± 411 and the study group was 1122 ± 930 and when compared it was found to be statistically significant with a p-value of 0.032. Hepcidin is predominantly produced by hepatocytes and also in adipose tissue, recognized as the key regulator of systemic iron homeostasis. The measurement of hepcidin in biological fluids is therefore a promising tool in the diagnosis and management of medical conditions in which iron metabolism is affected.

Urology is a surgical specialty that has undergone many changes in the last decade. Surgery has begun to shift from open surgery to endoscopy and laparoscopy. Post-operative infection is one of the most common complications in endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures. It is very important to distinguish the role of prophylactic antibiotics and empirical antibiotics. Prophylactic antibiotics can prevent infection but it is unable to compensate for infections due to poor hygiene and surgical techniques. Meanwhile, empirical antibiotics administration is given based on clinical symptoms, or it is proven that there was microorganism infection. Urological procedures can be categorized into 4 types: Category A (clean), B (clean- contaminated), C (contaminated), and D (dirty). In category A, patients do not need to be given prophylactic antibiotics unless they have risk factors for infection. There are significant differences in countries or regions and types of hospitals in the use of prophylactic antibiotics so that it is difficult to make the same procedure in the administration of prophylactic antibiotics.

This study was conducted with an objective to compare the efficacy of Recombinant Human Epidermal Growth Factor (rHEF) in healing of diabetic ulcers with conventional dressings, also in terms of rate of healing and duration of hospital stay. A prospective study with a total of 50 Diabetic ulcer patients between 18 and 75 yrs of age were taken for the study and were divided into 2 groups of 25 each. Only ulcers of </= to Grade II of Wagner classification were included. Group E: Patients received dressing using Recombinant Epidermal Growth factor (All of them were from a single company). Group C: Patients received Conventional dressing using Povidone iodine, H2O2, EUSOL and Normal saline. Patients were observed for a total of 6weeks each or until the complete wound healing had occurred, whichever was earlier, and were evaluated after every week for wound size and rate of wound healing. Complete healing of ulcer was observed in 21(84%) patients of Group E, whereas only 17(68%) among Group C showed complete healing. Rate of decrease in the size of the ulcer was significantly higher among Group E than in Group C patients (P <0.05). Also mean duration of hospital stay among patients in Group E was 14.2 days compared to 18.9 days in those patients in Group C. This difference was also statistically significant (p value<0.001, significant) This study demonstrates the positive effect of topical rHEGF in significantly speeding up wound healing and its efficacy in healing of diabetic ulcers.

Aging is a biological aspect of human physiological development. Age-associated changes or immunosenescence in the immune cell population, phenotype, and functions are associated with the risk of several diseases and infections. Immunosenescence in aging skin is believed to be related to decreased protective immunity, auto inflammation and autoimmunity, reduced vaccine efficacy, and impaired tolerance nature to harmless antigens. Several phenomena responsible for aging include telomere shortening, reactive oxidative species (ROS) formation, DNA damage, production of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), and inflammaging. In the skin, decreased innate response and adaptive capability were observed. With aging, Langerhans cells (LCs)’ ability to migrate to lymph nodes was decreased, neutrophils’ activation, recognition ability, phagocytosis was diminished coupled with defective chemotaxis, dendritic cells (DCs)’ antigen presentation response was dysfunctional, and monocytes/macrophages have a respiratory burst disorder. In contrast, increased natural killer (NK) cells with decreased chemokine (interleukin [IL]-2 and IL-12) production as well as a retained production of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) were reported. Impairment of B cells was also recognized, resulting in low-affinity antibody production against an antigen, while T cells revealed changes in the CD4 and CD8 function and Th17/Treg ratio changes leading to an imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory immune responses. In an attempt to slow the progression of immunosenescence, several strategies were developed, such as thymus reconstitution, reduction of antigenic stimulation, exogenous IL-2, dietary restrictions, probiotics, and vaccination.

Worldwide, Current statistics on HIV/AIDS indicate that one-half of all new HIV infections worldwide occur among young people ages 15 to 24. Every minute, five young people worldwide become infected with HIV/AID due to unsafe sexual intercourse. In Ethiopia, youths aged 15–24 years were more than 15.2 million, contributing to 20.6 % of the whole population. These large and productive groups of the population are exposed to various sexual and reproductive health risks. To assess the risky sexual behavior and associated factor among adolescent student in Dubti secondary school students in Dubti Woreda. Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescents in Dubti secondary school’s students in Dubti Woreda, North East zone 1, Afar National Regional State from Feb. 29 to october 16, 2018. Simple random sampling method was used to select study participants or unit and the sample size is 426, this is calculated with Epi info v 7.2.2.6 0pen calculator. Four diploma nurses will be used for data collection. After data collection data were coded, entered and cleared to cheek for completeness outliers and missed values and variables using Epi Info 7. Finally, data was exported to SPSS version 25. All of the respondents were included in the study. The overall prevalence of risky sexual behavior was 13.9% and predominated under the age18. Factors like participation in religious activity of the respondents [AOR=0.105, CI (0.014,0.997)], ever drank alcohol [AOR=22.627, CI (1.361,376.268)], ever Practicing chewing chat [AOR=9.289, CI (1.889,45.666)], ever smoking cigarette or shisha [AOR=9.815, CI (2.534,38.017)] and not cigarette or shisha smoker (AOR=0.10) were the factors that increase the odds of practicing risky sexual behavior. This study has shown that a considerable proportion of students were engaged in risky sexual behavior. Factors like participating in religious education, Alcohol drinking, being smoker of cigarette or shisha and chat chewer, were the factors that increase the odds of practicing risky sexual behavior among adolescent students. Any interventions that can affect the above risk factors may be helpful to protect adolescent’s health in school.