OBJECTIVE To determine the levels of serum uric acid, urea and creatinine in subjects with sickle cell disease and compare them to those reported in literature. SETTING Department of Paediatrics, College of Medicine, University of Basrah. METHODS Plasma uric acid, urea and creatinine was estimated by Varley's method, group of 65 sickle cell patients (35 Hb AS, 30 Hb SS) aged between 2-11 ye...

BACKGROUND Deoxygenation of sickle erythrocytes activates a cation permeability of unknown molecular identity (Psickle), leading to elevated intracellular [Ca(2+)] ([Ca(2+)](i)) and subsequent activation of K(Ca) 3.1. The resulting erythrocyte volume decrease elevates intracellular hemoglobin S (HbSS) concentration, accelerates deoxygenation-induced HbSS polymerization, and increases the likeli...

Sickle cell disease (SCD) in patients of HbSC genotype is considered similar, albeit milder, to that in homozygous HbSS individuals--but with little justification. In SCD, elevated red cell cation permeability is critical as increased solute loss causes dehydration and encourages sickling. Recently, we showed that the KCl cotransporter (KCC) activity in red cells from HbSC patients correlated s...

The deposition of calcium phosphate on chemically polished commercially pure titanium immersed in Hank's balanced salt solution (HBSS) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) (concentrations 0 and 4 mg/mL) has been investigated. Electrochemical techniques, 125I labeling of albumin, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were...

OBJECTIVES To determine the pulmonary function indices of children with sickle cell anemia (SCA) attending the pediatric sickle cell clinic at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, south-east Nigeria and to compare these indices with the results obtained from other regions.  METHODS A case control study of lung function in children with SCA aged 6-20 years. The study was carried...

INTRODUCTION Green tea extract (GTE) has been reported to have remarkable anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticarcinogenic effects and to prolong allograft survivals. The purpose of the present study is to investigate in vitro the efficacy of GTE as a storage medium for avulsed teeth. We estimated the possibility for storage medium by maintaining the viability of human periodontal ligament ...

One possible reason for the sealing ability of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) is its slight expansion upon setting. Both gray mineral trioxide aggregate (GMTA) and white mineral trioxide aggregate (WMTA) are composed of approximately 75% Portland cement (PC). WMTA differs from GMTA in its lower content of tetracalcium aluminoferrite. This difference in composition may affect setting expansion...

Background It has been reported that patients with SCD do have an abnormal coagulation profile. Coagulopathy is thought to be one of the key factors that contribute to the vaso-occlusive crisis that characterises sickle cell disease (SCD). In this study, we investigated whether Sudanese sickle cell patients have an abnormal coagulation profile. In addition, the effect of treatment with either o...

BACKGROUND In solid state structures of organic molecules, identical sets of H-bond donor and acceptor functions can result in a range of distinct H-bond connectivity modes. Specifically, competing H-bond structures (HBSs) may differ in the quantitative proportion between one-point and multiple-point H-bond connections. For an assessment of such HBSs, the effects of their internal as well as ex...