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Background: Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutation in the HTT gene and characterized by involuntary movements as well as cognitive and behavioral impairment. Since its first description 150 years ago, studies have been reported worldwide. However, genetically confirmed cases have been scarce in Africa. Objective: To describe the clinical and genetic aspects of HD in the Malian population. Methods: Patients with HD phenotype and their relatives were enrolled after obtaining consent. Symptoms were assessed using the Total Motor Scale (TMS) of the United Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Brain imaging and blood tests were performed to exclude other causes. DNA was extracted for HTT sequencing. Results: Eighteen patients (13 families) with a HD phenotype were evaluated. A familial history of the disease was found in 84.6% with 55.5% of maternal transmission. The average length of the HTT CAG repeat was 43.6±11.5 (39–56) CAGs. The mean age at onset was 43.1±9.7years. Choreic movements were the predominant symptoms (100% of the cases) with an average TMS of 49.4±30.8, followed by cognitive impairment (average MMSE score: 23.0±12.0) and psychiatric symptoms with 22.2% and 44.4%, respectively. Conclusion: This is one of the largest HD cohorts reported in Africa. Increasing access to genetic testing could uncover many other HD cases and disease-modifying genetic variants. Future haplotype and psychosocial studies may inform the origin of the Malian mutation and the impact of the disease on patients and their relatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the improvement of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for diminazene resistance detection in trypanosoma congolense. It offers information on the animal African trypanosomiasis and discusses the different techniques for trypanocidal drug resistance diagnosis. It outlines the advantages and disadvantages of the use of Dpll-PCR-RFLP through the use of filter papers . It indicates that the use of filter papers faciliate the large scale survey implementation for trypanocidal drug resistance in African countries affected by the trypanosomiasis using molecular diagnostic tools.

Access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment remains a crucial problem for patients living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in limited-resources countries. Some African countries have adopted the principle of providing ARV free of charge, but Burkina Faso opted for a direct out-of-pocket payment at the point of care delivery, with subsidized payments and mechanisms for the poorest populations to receive these services free of charge. Our objectives were to determine the proportion of PLWHA who pay for ARV and to identify the factors associated with ARV access in Burkina Faso. A cross-sectional study was performed in 13 public health facilities, 10 Nongovernmental Organizations and association health facilities, and three faith-based health facilities. In each facility, 20 outpatients receiving ARV were interviewed during a routine clinic visit. A multivariate analysis by logistic regression was performed. Among the expected 520 patients receiving ARV, 499 (96.0%) were surveyed. The majority of patients (79%) did not pay for their ARV treatment, thereby limiting cost recovery from patient payments. In a multivariate analysis, level of education and income were associated with free access to ARV. Patients with no education more frequently received free ARV than those who had received some level of education (OR 2.7, 95% CI [1.3-5.6]). Patients without any income or with less than US$10 per month were more likely to receive free ARV (OR 2.6 [95% CI 1.3-5.2]) than those who earned more than US$10 per month. However, 16% of patients without any income and 21% of those without employment paid for ARV, and the costs of drugs for opportunistic infections, food, and transport remained a burden for 85%, 91%, and 74%, respectively, of those who did not pay for ARV. Free access to a minimum care package for every PLWHA would enhance access to ARV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trypanocidal drugs are the most commonly purchased and used livestock input by resource-poor farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The effective use of trypanocidal drugs by smallholder farmers is threatened by the development of widespread resistance. This is a particular concern for smallholder crop-livestock farmers in the cotton zone of West Africa. A recent project funded by the Germany Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) confirmed significant resistance to trypanocidal drugs in villages with high trypanosomosis risk in Burkina Faso and Mali. Strategies for resistance prevention were investigated. Keeping trypanotolerant cattle was found to be an effective disease management strategy, but farmers’ preference for trypano-susceptible breeds, for reasons unrelated to animal health, suggest that the intromission of zebu genotype will continue. Community vector control was found to be effective in managing trypanosomosis in the presence of resistance and the high-level participatory approach tested was found to be more sustainable than low-level approaches previously used in the region. This suggests that participatory vector control with appropriate external support is likely to be a viable option for implementing resistance ‘clean-up’. Promoting rational drug use (RDU) emerged as a promising prevention strategy, with clear improvements in farmer knowledge, farmer practice and animal health outcomes. However, policy studies showed low understanding of the problem of resistance and the absence of an enabling environment for RDU. Engagement was initiated with actors involved in the problem of resistance and for its solution, including manufacturers, sellers and users of drugs, regulators and extension providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study which reports a novel mutation in the ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene. The study was conducted on a Malian family with children having cerebella ataxia symptoms in childhood and informs that neurological examination of patients showed an ataxic gait, reduced hand coordination and lateral gaze. According to the results, neurological diseases are not uncommon in Africa.

Evidence of early Homo sapiens populations at the Atlantic coast of Africa remains relatively poorly known in relation to other regions of the continent. Nevertheless, available data across the continent provides a good starting point for current and future research investigations. The many sites known, documented and studied contribute in an increasingly way to the global understanding of the human emergence, including evidence of human evolutionary and technological advances, specific adaptations to diverse environments, the diffusion of Homo species and how humans interacted with each other from the "Early Stone Age (ESA)" through to the Middle Stone Age (MSA) from northern and southern Africa to the West. The differences of knowledge between the Atlantic coast in regard to other regions might be attributed to a number of reasons including but not limited to the history of scientific interest, site formation processes or economic, institutional and political constraints. However, the region received a renewed attention and funds that, combined with new methods and techniques, has been allowing an increased training of new researchers and the acquisition of high-resolution archaeological, paleoenvironmental and chronological data. Together, these inputs will reduce the differences of knowledge between the Atlantic coast and the Northern, Southern and Eastern Africa regions. The African Atlantic Coast represents more than 40% of the continent's perimeter, covering all Africa's climate zones, the hot arid environments, mountainous regions, and tropical rainforest could become relevant barriers for human mobility, but the shallow continental platform, and the great number of river basins allowed mobility between north and south coastal biomes into the continental interiors. These may have provided predictable patchy clusters of resources allowing human populations to thrive, enabling greater mobility and consequent diffusion of cultural traits, resources, and DNA. In this paper we review the record about the prehistory, paleoenvironments and paleoanthropological visibility and potentiality of Atlantic Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]