Prevalence and risk factors associated with intestinal parasitic infections among schoolchildren in Punjab, Pakistan

Intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) are a major cause of morbidity worldwide and have been described as an important public health concern. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence and identification of risk factors associated with IPIs among 3-15 years old school age children residing in Mandi Bahauddin, Pakistan from 2011- 2013. A cross sectional school-based study was conducted using a structured pre-tested questionnaire. Anthropometric tools and stool tests were used to obtain epidemiological and disease data. The direct wet mount preperation in saline/iodine/haematoxylin stain and Kato-Katz methods were used for stool examination. Data were analysed using appropriate descriptive, univariate and multivariable logistic regression methods. Of the 1,434 children studied (mean age of 8.6±3.6 years) the overall prevalence rate for intestinal parasitic infections was found to be 33.3%. Children infected with single parasite accounted for 27.6% and 5.7% were detected with poly-parasitism. The study showed that helminths (21.4%) were more prevalent than protozoans (17.9%). Ascaris lumbricoides (17.5%), Giardia lamblia (9.8%), Entamoeba histolytica (8.2%), Hymenolepis nana (2.0%), Trichuris trichiura (1.3%) and Taenia saginata (0.7%) were identified in children living in irrigated areas. The multiple logistic regression model indicated that age of the child, gender, family size, source of drinking water, type of milk used, house condition, feeding habit, personal hygiene and socioeconomic status were significantly (p<0.05) associated with the IPIs. Intestinal parasites were prevalent in varying magnitude among the schoolchildren located in irrigated areas. We conclude that there is a need for mass scale campaigns to create awareness regarding health and hygiene in children, and the need for development of effective poverty control programmes because deworming alone is not adequate to control parasitic infections.

Chronic orchidectomy does not influence the sensitivity of the pituitary somatotropes to varying doses of GHRH administered intravenously to the adult male rhesus monkey

In the present study, the pituitary growth hormone (GH) response to graded doses of GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) was determined in intact (n = 3) and chronically orchidectomized (n = 3) adult rhesus monkeys (Mucaca mulatta). GHRH in doses of 0, 6.25, 12.5 and 25 microg/kg BW was infused through a teflon cannula implanted in the saphenous vein. Blood samples were collected 60 min before and 90 min after the injection of the neurohormone at 15 min intervals. All bleedings were carried out under ketamine hydrochloride anesthesia. The plasma levels of GH were determined by using AutoDELFIA time-resolved flouroimmunoassay, whereas plasma levels of testosterone and estradiol were determined using specific radioimmunoassay systems. The GH responses to GHRH were not significantly different between intact and chronically orchidectomized monkeys at any of the dose levels tested (p > 0.05). The administration of GHRH resulted in a significant (p < 0.05) stimulation of GH secretion at all the doses tested and in both the groups studied. In both intact and orchidectomized animals, the greatest response was observed at 6.25 microg/kg and no further increase was noted with the higher doses of GHRH. In conclusion, the present study suggests that chronic orchidectomy does not influence the sensitivity of the pituitary somatotropes to GHRH stimulation implying that the responsiveness of the pituitary somatotropes to GHRH is independent of testicular steroid modulation.

The effect of ketamine hydrochloride anesthesia on basal and N-methyl-D,L-aspartate induced plasma prolactin secretion in the adult male rhesus monkey

The excitatory amino acids (EAAs), glutamate and aspartate, acting predominantly on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, have been shown to be involved in the central regulation of the secretion of several anterior pituitary hormones including prolactin (PRL), whereas ketamine hydrochloride (KH), a widely used anesthetic, has been reported to antagonize a variety of NMDA receptor mediated actions of these EAAs. In the present study, the effect of KH on basal PRL levels as well as on N-methyl-D,L-aspartate (NMA), an agonist of NMDA receptor, induced plasma PRL secretion was investigated in the adult male rhesus monkey. The values were compared to those obtained from the same animals restrained in primate chairs. The plasma PRL concentrations were higher in animals receiving KH administered either intramuscularly (2.5 mg/kg BW at 30 min intervals) or intravenously (10 mg/kg BW) as compared to those observed in the unanesthetized chair-restrained monkeys. NMA induced an unequivocal increase in plasma PRL concentrations in both conscious chair-restrained and KH anesthetized monkeys, but the response was greater in anesthetized animals than the conscious monkeys. The present findings suggest that KH has stimulatory effects on both basal and NMA induced plasma PRL secretion.