Shakila Srikumar

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Homocysteine is an amino acid derivative of S-Adenosyl methionine, which is sulfated to form cysteine. Thus homocysteine has gained importance as an early marker of atherosclerosis leading to vascular diseases. Hence the objective of the current study is to evaluate the association of high plasma homocysteine with atherosclerosis based on a comparative study on patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without complications. METHODS: This study was carried out using the laboratory data of sixty subjects from 30 to 75 years old. The data was collected from the samples sent from the outpatients of Diabetes Clinic, 17th February Hospital, El Baida. The study drawn were categorized into three groups: The control group comprised of twenty age matched healthy volunteers with no history of diabetes mellitus. The second group comprised of diabetics with no history of coronary artery disease and the third category comprising of twenty patients with a long history of type2 diabetes associated with one or more episodes of coronary artery disease. The fasting blood samples were analyzed for glucose, glycated hemoglobin, homocysteine and serum cholesterol using authenticated methods. RESULTS: Homocysteine levels have shown a significant rise in diabetic patients with complications when compared with controls (p < 0.001). This trend was not observed in type 2 diabetics with no history of CAD when compared with control group (p> 0.05). Plasma glucose (p<0.001) and glycated hemoglobin (=0.001) was significantly high in both the diabetic groups when compared with the controls. The levels of serum cholesterol was significantly high in diabetics with complications (p< 0.001) when compared with controls and also diabetic patients with no history of CAD. CONCLUSIONS: A rise in the homocysteine concentration in type 2 diabetic patients with episodes of CAD in this small population has indicated a positive correlation of high homocysteine with atherosclerosis. Hence there is a need for homocysteine estimation along with the lipid profile for routine screening of patients at risk for developing athero-sclerosis, especially in diabetics. Hence homocysteine estimation can be used as an early marker to predict and prevent cardiovascular diseases

ABSTRACT Breast cancers are prevalent in Libyan women particularly among the younger individuals when com-pared with that of the western population. Breast cancers constitute about 26% of all cancers in Libyan women as per the Benghazi cancer registry. The present study evaluate the serum levels of sex hormones in breast malignancy. METHODS: Data on sex hormone status in 12 cases of confirmed carcinoma of breast patients in the age group ranging from 30 – 55 years of age have been retrieved from the department of surgery, 7th October Hospital, Benghazi, Libya and compared with that of the 12 cases of age matched controls free from both malignant and benign disorders of breast in this study. Serum oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels were estimated by using appropriate kits with Cobas E411 analyser. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software using Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests. RESULTS: Oestrogen levels were found to be significantly elevated in carcinoma breast (p=0.001) when compared with controls. Serum progesterone levels did not show any significance between in malignancy (p=0.518) and controls. Se-rum testosterone levels also did not show any significant difference between carcinoma breast (p=0.3144) and controls. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown a significant association between sex hormone, oestrogen and breast cancer risk. Further evaluation is required with a bigger sample size to decide on the impact of treatment based on the oestrogen levels.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is widely prevalent across the globe. Cholesterol is a major risk factor implicated in the causation of CHD. Our study reiterated this finding. There have been studies on the incidence and prevalence of CHD in most countries of the world where this disease imposes high personal, social and economic costs, and the role played by other risk factors. However, studies concerning Libya and other Arab countries are generally not available or are not published. Objective The current study was carried out to estimate the predictive value and the correlation of lipid profile with CHD in the population of Sirt city, one of Jamahiriya cities located in North Central Libya, bordering the Mediterranean sea, where there have been no studies on CHD incidence. Methods The current study was a case-control study; and was carried out on a total of 167 clinically healthy subjects aged 26 to 80 years who served as population-based controls, and 98 CHD patients (history of an...

BACKGROUND: Homocysteine is an amino acid derivative of S-Adenosyl methionine, which is sulfated to form cysteine. Thus homocysteine has gained importance as an early marker of atherosclerosis leading to vascular diseases. Hence the objective of the current study is to evaluate the association of high plasma homocysteine with atherosclerosis based on a comparative study on patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus with and without complications. METHODS: This study was carried out using the laboratory data of sixty subjects from 30 to 75 years old. The data was collected from the samples sent from the outpatients of Diabetes Clinic, 17th February Hospital, El Baida. The study drawn were categorized into three groups: The control group comprised of twenty age matched healthy volunteers with no history of diabetes mellitus. The second group comprised of diabetics with no history of coronary artery disease and the third category comprising of twenty patients with a long history ...

BACKGROUND: Coronary Artery Disease is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity across the globe. Prevalence of Coronary Artery Disease is alarmingly increasing in developing countries. India is also experiencing the same with the increasing urbanization, changing lifestyles and obesity. Present study is focused on estimation of Cystatin-C in Coronary Artery Disease patients in correlation with lipid profile, obesity and other risk factors. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in the department of biochemistry, Mamata Medical College and General Hospital, Khammam, Andhra Pradesh, India. The patients attending outpatient and wards of cardiology and general medicine departments of hospital and local cardiac centers were included in this study. Study group comprised of 145 patients diagnosed as Coronary Artery Disease with an age group of 30-50 patients with associated risk factors i.e., Diabetes, hypertension, smoking. And alcoholism. 66 sex and age matched subjects were...

Breast cancers are prevalent in Libyan women particularly among the younger individuals when com-pared with that of the western population. Breast cancers constitute about 26% of all cancers in Libyan women as per the Benghazi cancer registry. The present study evaluate the serum levels of sex hormones in breast malignancy. METHODS: Data on sex hormone status in 12 cases of confirmed carcinoma of breast patients in the age group ranging from 30 – 55 years of age have been retrieved from the department of surgery, 7th October Hospital, Benghazi, Libya and compared with that of the 12 cases of age matched controls free from both malignant and benign disorders of breast in this study. Serum oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels were estimated by using appropriate kits with Cobas E411 analyser. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software using Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon tests. RESULTS: Oestrogen levels were found to be significantly elevated in carcinoma breast (p=0.001) ...

Background: Carcinoma of Breast is one of the most common surgical problems in Libya especially in younger female subjects. Breast cancer is the most dreadful disease in terms of quality of life, though heart disease is a more common cause of mortality here. The present study was designed to evaluate the early diagnostic indicator role of serum uric acid levels in patients suffering from carcinoma breast. Materials and methods: 100 patients with a classical presentation of a lump in the breast have been selected from an age group ranging from 16 to 65 years with a mean age of 37 years from the department of surgery, 7th October hospital, Benghazi, Libya (2009 and 2010).43 healthy controls with an age group from 20 to 55 years with a mean age of 35 years were also selected. Out of the 100 cases of lump in the breast, 83 were found to be benign and 17 were malignant irrespective of age. Serum uric acid estimation was done in all the patients after an overnight fast. The biochemical te...

Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) represent a range of ischemic heart disease from unstable angina to myocardial infarction (MI) and may involve large areas of cardiac necrosis. The symptomatic manifestations of an acute MI (AMI) may be varied and ECG is also non-diagnostic in about 50% of cases, which poses a risk for potential misdiagnosis. Biochemical markers and cardiac enzymes like transaminases and creatine kinase (CK) were used early as diagnostic markers, and gradually improved markers like creatine ...

Objective The current study has been conducted for a period extending from 2007 to 2009 on a small population of patients from cardiac unit in the general hospital attached to a medical university in the city of Sirt, Libya, to estimate the predictive value and revalidate an association of abnormal lipid profile with Coronary Heart Disease in this area. Not many studies concerning this association of lipid parameters with CHD had been conducted in Libya. Hence this pilot study was initiated in a small group with an intention of continuing ...