Myocardial infarction (MI) is a common multifactorial disease. Numerous studies have found that genetic plays an essential role in MI occurrence. The main objective of our case-control study is to exp Show more
Myocardial infarction (MI) is a common multifactorial disease. Numerous studies have found that genetic plays an essential role in MI occurrence. The main objective of our case-control study is to explore the association of G894T eNOS (rs1799983), 4G/5G PAI (rs1799889) and T1131C APOA5 (rs662799) polymorphisms with MI susceptibility in the Moroccan population. 118 MI patients were recruited vs 184 healthy controls. DNA samples were genotyped by PCR-RFLP method using MboI, BslI and MseI restriction enzymes respectively for the G894T eNOS, 4G/5G PAI and T1131C APOA5 polymorphisms. Our results show that the G894T eNOS was significantly associated with increased risk of MI under the three genetic transmission models (dominant: ORĀ =Ā 1.64, 95% CIĀ =Ā 1.05-2.58, PĀ =Ā 0.003; recessive: ORĀ =Ā 2.15, 95% CIĀ =Ā 0.74-6.16, PĀ =Ā 0.03; additive: ORĀ =Ā 1.54, 95% CIĀ =Ā 1.06-2.23, PĀ =Ā 0.001). The T1131C APOA5 polymorphism was associated to MI risk in recessive and additive models (ORĀ =Ā 1.53, 95% CIĀ =Ā 0.72-3.2, PĀ =Ā 0.04 and ORĀ =Ā 1.78, 95% CIĀ =Ā 1.26-2.51, PĀ =Ā 0.03 respectively). For the 4G/5G PAI variant, even the cases and controls groups were not in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE), the dominant and additive models show a statistically significant association with MI risk (ORĀ =Ā 7.96, 95%CIĀ =Ā 3.83-16.36, PĀ =Ā 0.01 and ORĀ =Ā 1.96, 95% CIĀ =Ā 1.4-2.72, PĀ =Ā 0.03 respectively). Our results suggest that G894T eNOS and T1131C APOA5 polymorphisms may be considered as genetic markers of MI among the Moroccan population. Further studies including larger sample sizes and exploring more genetic associations are needed to confirm our results and to better understand the susceptibility to MI. Show less
Extracts from a new chemotype of Mentha longifolia, a mint species that grows spontaneously and widely in the Moroccan mountains, were tested against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). We ob Show more
Extracts from a new chemotype of Mentha longifolia, a mint species that grows spontaneously and widely in the Moroccan mountains, were tested against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). We observed that non-toxic concentrations (10 microg/mL) of extracts from this plant, in particular methanol (Ext-1) and ethyl acetate (Ext-3) extracts, significantly inhibit (p < 0.01) HIV-1BaL infection by about 40% and 55%, respectively. In addition, only Ext-3 shows significant (p < 0.008) inhibitory activity (50% inhibition) against HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. It is noteworthy that chemical analysis of these extracts suggests that flavonoids, mainly flavones of M. longifolia, may be the major inhibitors of HIV infection. In conclusion, these in vitro data suggest that components of M. longifolia may represent potential anti-HIV agents; the identification of such components is in progress. Show less