Abstract... Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common liver disorders that is generally associated with
abnormal liver function test results. Pomegranate has been described as the nature’s power fruit, and shown to have
various health benefits. This study aims to explore the role of aqueous pomegranate peel extract (PPE) in attenuating
NAFLD induced by high fat diet (HFD). 24 male guinea pigs were allocated into three groups (eight per group).
Control (CON) group received normal chow diet. High fat diet (HFD) group, consumed HFD over six weeks to induce
NAFLD. HFD-PPE group received HFD for six weeks followed by four weeks administration of PPE tea along with
HFD. All animals survived until termination of the experiment, and were ultimately sacrificed at scheduled time (six
weeks for the CON and HFD groups and ten weeks for the HFD-PPE group). NAFLD was evaluated histologically
and by measuring serum levels of liver enzymes. There was a significant increase in the serum levels of cholesterol
(p=0.01), triglyceride (p=0.01), alanine transaminase [ALT] (p=0.01) and aspartate transaminase [AST] (p=0.001) in
the HFD group compared to the control. These levels were significantly lower in the HFD-PPE group compared to
the HFD animals (p=0.05, 0.01, 0.01 and 0.001) for serum concentrations of cholesterol, triglyceride, ALT and AST
respectively. A clear reduction in the extent of intrahepatocytic fat deposition was observed in the HFD-PPE animals
as compared to the HFD group. This study demonstrates the potential role of PPE in the alleviation of HFD-induced
NAFLD. While further studies are required to clarify the underlying mechanisms, these findings may provide the
foundation for further nutritional and therapeutic developments.
Abstract... EMMPRIN is a widely distributed cell surface glycoprotein that belongs to immunoglobulin (Ig) super family. It is
inducing the production of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymes and play important role in angiogenesis via stimulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The aim of the present work is to evaluate and
asses the expression of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN) in oral squamous cell carcinomas
and to compare the expression of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN) in different types of
oral squamous cell carcinomas. Thirty diagnosed cases of Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) were selected and
immunohistochemistry was performed for EMMPRIN. All cases showed positive EMMPRIN expression with different intensity. This study concluded that the elevated expression of EMMPRIN levels correlate with tumor proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis and invasion.
Abstract... Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most common type of anemia. Anemia is defined as a clinical condition characterized by a reduction in hemoglobin concentration of blood or the number of red blood cells (RBCs) is poorly
below the normal. The present study was conducted to investigate about prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among
nursing students and elucidate the correlations between hemoglobin level, gender, physical signs, and clinical symptoms. Sixty-one students aged 18-30 years were selected randomly, during the period from April up to December
2018. Hemoglobin (Hb) level was measured for each respondent. Pearson correlation was used to find a correlation
between Hb and other parameters. where P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. The results showed that,
there was 16% found to be suffering from anemia, when 28% of females had diagnosed low Hb levels with anemia.
A significant (P˂0.05) correlation between Hb level, sex, pale-colored inside lower eyelids, general pallor and heartbeat were detected. There were no significant (P>0.05) correlation between Hb level and sore mouth, anorexia, headache occurrence, dizziness and breath shortness. It was detected that, the prevalence of mild anemia among nursing
students have been measured. The nutritional interventions such as change lifestyle, food fortification and diet diversification should be recommended to prevent the occurrence of anemia complications.
Abstract... This study was performed to investigate the prevalence of Vitamin D insufficiency and its associated risk factors
among pregnant women in selected clinics in Misurata, Libya for the month of March 2018. A total of 90 pregnant
women were included in this study. a self-made questionnaire was designed to gather data. The data gathered were
classified, tabulated and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Fifty five percent of the respondents had insufficient
vitamin D (serum concentration 25 (OH) D level ≤ 30 ng/ml ), Most of the respondents are aged 15-25 years old and
are in college level, with fair skin and sometimes exposed to sunlight in the mid-day with less than one hour, sometimes use of sunscreen cream. In terms of dietary information, most of the respondents had regular intake of milk,
omega 3 fish oil, Vitamin D and calcium supplements. Despite the increasing awareness of the importance of vitamin
D in the recent period, and although pregnant women in Misurata hospitals are generally subjected to a course of
supplements, but suboptimal levels of vitamin D is still common.
Abstract... Brucellosis in human is an uncommon disease in Libya and usually diagnosed by serological assays. The clinical
symptoms of this disease in many times are none specific and vague. This report describes a case of clinical human
brucellosis in Libya. The patient was a sixteen years old girl, lives in a rural area. She was suffering from intermittent
fever for several days associated with chills, mild cough, and headache. The patient had history of occasional drink of
goat’s raw milk during the previous two months. She had no history of travel abroad and direct animal contacts.
Comprehensive physical examination revealed the patient was generally unwell, pallor and, had tenderness and mild
hepatosplenomegaly. Laboratory investigations revealed that the patient had pancytopenia (low number of blood cells
count) and a marked increase in C-reactive protein (CRP), Procalcitonin (PCT), Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), Aspartate transaminase (AST). Viral screen tests were non-reactive for HCV, HBs Ag, HIV and covid-19. Provisional
diagnosis on admission time was acute leukemia or aplastic anemia with common microbial infection. Empirical
antibiotic (Meropenem 1 gm) was prescribed intravenously every eight hours for seven days. The patient was also
given antipyretic, IV fluid hydration, and one unit of packed red blood cells. Following that, bacterial growth in aerobic blood culture was noticed and it was Gram-negative coccobacilli, non-motile. The bacterium was positive for
catalase, oxidase and urease tests. It could not clearly be identified by phoenix bacterial identification system. It was
provisionally diagnosed Haemophilus spp., but as it was able to growth on blood agar plate, it was finally diagnosed
as Brucella spp. and that was confirmed by collection of patient serum and performing Rose-Bengal pate test (RBPT)
as was significantly increased (1:640). The patient general condition was improved and blood count recovered over
one week. The patient was then discharged and asked for routine follow ups during the next six months.
Abstract... Aplastic anaemia is a severe haematological disorder characterized by an inadequate number of hematopoietic stem
cells, resulting in pancytopenia, formed by a hypocellular bone marrow. Disorders of this nature are widely treated
with haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). A potential chronic complication following (HSCT) is the
growth of secondary malignancies. Notably, patients suffering from chronic graft versus host disease (cGvHD) secondary to HSCT have been shown to be more susceptible to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Here, we present a rare case of a 30-year-oldLibyan woman treated with HSCT for aplastic anaemia, with subsequent complications of cGvHD and OSCC after few months of HSCT. These carcinomatous lesions were detected in the buccal
gingiva and retromolar pad area at age of 31. The present case report emphasizes on the connection between oral
cGvHD and OSCC, and the potential appearance of OSCC after HSCT at any time of patient life. Thus, closer follow-up is mandatory for all patients treated with HSCT who developed cGvHD, and efficient cGvHD prevention
and therapeutic approaches are needed.
Abstract... The Snodgrass surgical procedure is one of the methods for hypospadias repair. Currently it is the most commonly used hypospadias repair technique, especially for distal hypospadias. It has resulted in sig-nificant improvement in the outcome of hypospadias repair. Multiple modifications to the original procedure are introduced, which may further limit and reduce the risk of complications. In this paper, we review our experience with the modified technique with respect to postoperative complications and outcome, with emphasis on fistula formation. We reviewed the results of 61 cases treated by Snod-grass urethroplasty by the same surgeon, between August 2017and May 2019 at Alnokhba hospital in Misurata-Libya. We divided the patients into three groups, we used in each group a different surgical method. The three methods differed in the type of flap used. In group A (20 boys), the neourethra was covered by a preputual flap. In group B (23 boys), the neourethra was covered by a lateral dartos flap. In group C (18 boys), the neourethra was covered by double flap formed by lateral dartos flap and preputial flap. After tubularization of the urethral plate and a circumferential incision proximal to the coronal sulcus from each edge of the urethral plate, the penile skin was degloved from 1 cm proximal to the hypospadiac meatus in all groups. A total of 61 boys underwent repair by at a mean age of 3.98 years (range 4 months to 11 years). At follow up 3 months, 8 patients had urethrocutaneous fistula as a complication (13.1%), in group A, fistula occurred in 4 cases (20%), in group B, it occurred in 3 pa-tients (13%), while in group C, it occurred in only one patient (5.5%). Snodgrass procedure has marked-ly improved the outcomes for management of hypospadias. The modifications to the Snodgrass hy-pospadias repair described combined with proper patient selection permit a high rate of success with minimal complications. Use of a double flap (lateral dartos flap and preputial flap) to cover the ne-ourethra in Snodgrass urethroplasty reduce the rate of fistula formation.
Abstract... Background: Endometrial carcinoma (EC) is the second most common gynecologic cancer worldwide and most cases (75%) are
diagnosed. Aim of study: Identifying the epidemiology and the risk factors of the disease based on the clinical manifestations,
staging, and therapeutically approaches to endometrial cancer. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study con- ducted in National Cancer Institute, Misurata, Libya where 61 women were diagnosed with endometrial cancer between 2015-
2017.The data of the patients were obtained including: age, symptoms, parity, abortion, past medical history, passive smoking, weight, staging, and treatment procedures. The mean age of the studied patients with endometrial cancer was 61.9 ± 11.4 years. The maximum age of the patients was 78 years and the minimum age was 35 years. The most common age group of patients was
56-65 years. The most common symptom was vaginal bleeding (83.6%), while weight loss (8.2%) and pelvic pain with constipation accounted for (5%). Most of the cases were grand parity 70%, and nearly 40% of women have shown history of abortion. Addi- tionally, 13% of patients had an experience with passive smoking, 64% had diabetes and hypertension, and 73.7% of cases were
obese. All of the cases were at stage II or more advanced during diagnosis, and about 40% of cases underwent surgery as a firstchoice treatment. We have observed the association of abnormal vaginal bleeding and abnormal vaginal discharge with endometrial cancer. The study revealed many risk factors of the disease such as obesity, diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Understanding the epidemiology of the disease may assist with the treatment and the prevention strategies as well.