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Our data show that LSG and LRYGBP result in a similar rate of type 2 DM resolution at 4-months after surgery. Moreover, our data suggest that mechanisms beyond weight loss may be implicated in DM resolution following LSG and LRYGBP.

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We have studied 91 patients with SS genotype, 44 children and 47 adults. Excluding the Cameroon and atypical haplotypes, the distribution in the children's sample exhibited 43% Benin, 38% Bantu, and 3% Senegal. In adults, the sample exhibited 46% Benin, 30% Bantu, and 9% Senegal (chi 2: 13.511, 2 df, P = 0.001). When the whole sample of 198 chromosomes (SS, SC, and S/beta thal) is considered, we find that the beta s chromosome is linked 51% to the Benin haplotype, 41% with the Bantu, and 8% with the Senegal. After adjusting for the different frequencies of beta s in Africa, these numbers would predict the port of origin to be 16% from Atlantic West Africa, 37.3% from Central West Africa, and 46% from Bantu-speaking Africa. This is in direct contradiction with the historical record that establishes a higher percentage from Bantu-speaking Africa (55%) and a much lower percentage from Senegal (3.4%). The overall conclusions from these findings is that there is a loss of Bantu haplotypes in sickle cell syndromes in Cuba, particularly among adults, and that there is an excess of Senegal haplotype, also among adults. These differences might reflect the differential survival and severity of the sickle cell disease linked to these haplotypes.

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Purification of the lectin from Phaseolus acutifolius var. escumite was achieved by affinity chromatography on a column containing glutaraldehyzed membranes from blood group O erythrocytes. The lectin is a tetrameric glycoprotein of 121 kDa with 10% of sugar by weight composed by four subunits of 30 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE. The lectin is composed of four isolectins as determined by ion-exchange chromatography on a mono-S column. The lectin and its isolectins showed identical NH2 terminal residues (ANDLSFNFQR FNETN) with homology to the PHA leucoagglutinin-precursor. Peptide mass fingerprint from each lectin isoform determined from tryptic peptides by MALDI-TOF (matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight) showed differences among subunits, thus suggesting microheterogeneity in their amino acid sequences or different glycosylation patterns. The lectin and its four isolectins agglutinated erythrocytes without serological specificity and showed mitogenic activity on human leukocytes; moreover, the main effect was rather toward CD8+ than to CD4+ human peripheral lymphocytes. The lectin from escumite was not inhibitable by simple sugars; however, the specificity of the lectin and its isoforms was mainly addressed toward galactose residues present in bi- or triantennary N-acetyllactosamine-type glycans.

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