Introduction: Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease with many risk factors including inadequate nutrient intake and nutritional deficiencies, which affect the immune system, and influence leprosy progression. Objectives: To elucidate the relation between the serum level of zinc, vitamin C, and selenium and the clinical spectrum of leprosy. Methodology: A case control study included 100 leprotic patients (50 multibacillary and 50 paucibacillary) and 100 age and sex matched controls. Vitamin C was measured by ELISA, zinc was measured by using centronic colorimetric spectrophotometry, and selenium was measured by Inductivity Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy technique. Results: Zinc and Vitamin C levels were significantly lower in paucibacillary (mean ± SD = 89.86 ± 20.712 and 2.52 ± 1.27 respectively) and multibacillary (mean ± SD = 81.41 ± 18.61 and 1.98 ± 0.59 respectively) than in controls (mean ± SD = 107.34 ± 3.98 and 4.95 ± 2.45 respectively) (p value < 0.001) with no significant difference between paucibacillary and multibacillary patients (p value = 0.142 and = 0.066 respectively). Selenium level showed no significant difference between the three groups (p value > 0.05) (mean ± SD = 51.27 ± 42.61 in paucibacillary, 47.54 ± 30.21 in multibacillary, and 44.07 ± 46.58 in controls). Conclusions: Lower serum levels of zinc and vitamin C in leprosy patients may be a result of disease pathogenesis or related to the antioxidants based treatment. It might also present prior to the disease onset due to malnutrition that may have accelerated the development of leprosy.

Background: Pregnancy is characterized by immunologic, metabolic, endocrine, and vascular changes, which lead to skin changes, making pregnant women suffer from body image disorder, physical performance, and mental health affection which adversely affect their sexual activity and quality of life. Objectives: To evaluate the impact of pregnancy and pregnancy-related changes on the quality of life and sexual function.Patients and Methods: This case-control study involved 160 females divided into 4 groups: 40 pregnant females in the 1 st trimester, 40 in the 2 nd trimester, 40 in the 3 rd trimester, and 40 nonpregnant females as the control group. Every participant filled out the Arabic version of the Female Sexual Dysfunction Index (FSDI) and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). Results: There was a significant difference between the three trimesters regarding the types of skin changes (p=0.006). Acne vulgaris was the most common change in the 1 st -trimester group. There was a significant difference between the studied groups as regards the female sexual function (p>0.001 regarding FSDI total score). There was no significant difference between females with skin changes compared to those without regard to their sexual function during 1 st , 2 nd , and 3 rd trimesters (P=0.07,0.5,0.6 resp) regarding FSDI total score. Regarding the DLQI score, there was a significant difference between both the 2 nd and 3 rd trimesters and control groups (P2=0.01and P3=0.009 respectively) with higher mean values of the DLQI score among females with skin changes. Conclusion: Pregnancy negatively affected female sexual function and quality of life. Skin changes during pregnancy significantly affected the quality of life of pregnant females.