1. Amyloidosis in sub-Saharan Africa
- Author
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A. Pouye, F.K. Lekpa, Thérèse Moreira Diop, S. Ndongo, J. Tiendrebeogo, Awa Cheikh Ndao, and Mamadou Mourtalla Ka
- Subjects
Pathology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Sub saharan ,Tuberculosis ,Amyloid ,business.industry ,Amyloidosis ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,medicine.disease ,Autopsy series ,Congo red ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Infectious Diseases ,AA amyloidosis ,chemistry ,parasitic diseases ,medicine ,AL amyloidosis ,Humans ,business ,Africa South of the Sahara - Abstract
Amyloidosis is a protein folding disorder in which normally soluble proteins are deposited extracellularly as insoluble fibrils. When stained with Congo red dye, it produces apple-green birefringence under polarized light. The main amyloid proteins are AL, AA, ATTR and Aβ(2)-M. The incidence of amyloidosis in sub-Saharan Africa ranges from 0.28 to 0.57% in autopsy series. Secondary AA amyloidosis is the most frequent, found in 42 to 66% of amyloidoses. Chronic infections, especially tuberculosis, are the main cause. AL amyloidosis is found in 21 to 34% of amyloidosis cases, half of them due to myeloma. Other types of amyloidosis seem rare, but are probably underdiagnosed. The clinical presentation in sub-Saharan Africa is similar to that in Western series. Further experimental and clinical studies will allow a better assessment of the characteristics of amyloidosis in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Published
- 2012
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