Background Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the major public health burden, mainly distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Among the Sub-Saharan African countries, Ethiopia is the second most affected country with VL. An Alteration of liver function is a typical manifestation of the disease. Objective The purpose of conducting this study was to assess liver function tests and associated risk factors among VL patients at Leishmaniasis Research and Treatment Center of University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, North West Ethiopia. Method Hospital based comparative cross-sectional study design was conducted. A total of 102 study participants were involved in this study. Newly diagnosed VL patients who were attended at Leishmaniasis Research and Treatment Center of University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from 21st February 2020 to 30th September 2020 were included under case group category. On the other hand, age-sex matched apparently healthy study subjects were categorized as control group. Written consent was obtained willingness of patients to participate after ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of School of Medicine, University of Gondar. After overnight fasting, 5ml venous blood was drawn from both VL patients and controls to evaluate liver function tests, including AST, ALT, total bilirubin, albumin, and total protein. Thus, senior health professionals (laboratory technologist) investigate the results using Cobas Integra 400 Plus clinical chemistry analyzer. Data was entered into Epi-data version 4.6 and exported to STATA 14 for analysis of liver function tests and associated risk factors. Result The result of this study showed that significant mean difference was exhibited in aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total bilirubin, serum albumin, and total protein level among VL patients and controls. It showed that there was a statistically significant elevation in the level of AST, ALT, and total bilirubin among cases as compared to control. The serum AST level was significantly (p<0.001) elevated among cases as compared to controls. Serum ALT was significantly (p<0.001) elevated among cases compared to controls. Additionally, the total serum bilirubin level was significantly increased (P<0.001) among cases as compared to controls. There was a statistically significant (P<0.001) reduction of serum albumin level among VL patients as compared to controls. Similarly, serum total protein was significantly (P<0.001) reduced in VL patients than control groups. Conclusion There were significantly higher mean levels of serum AST, ALT, and total bilirubin among VL patients as compared to controls. On the other hand, VL patients showed significantly lowered level of albumin and total protein as compared to controls.

Introduction Metabolic syndrome is a group of metabolic risk factors which are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type2 diabetes. Nowadays, several studies have shown that the burden of metabolic syndrome is increasing among epileptic patients, and leads to MS-associated complications, including cardiovascular disease. However, getting published documents has been limited in Ethiopia and the study area. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the magnitude and associated factors of metabolic syndrome among epileptic patients in Dessie Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in compression with respective controls. Methods Hospital-based comparative cross-sectional study design was implemented from June 25 to August 20, 2021. A total of 204 participants with an equal number of cases and controls (n = 102 each) were included. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews and biochemical analyses such as fasting blood glucose and lipid profiles were done through the enzymatic technique. The magnitude of metabolic syndrome was determined using both National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III and International Diabetes Federation definition criteria. The STATA version 14 was used for statistical data analysis, and a comparison of categorical and continuous variables was done with χ2 and an independent t-test, respectively. The multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with metabolic syndrome, and variables having a P-value of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Result The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among the epileptic group was (25.5% in National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III and 23.5% in International Diabetes Federation criteria), whereas it was 13.7% in National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III and 14.7% in International Diabetes Federation criteria among control groups. According to the International Diabetes Federation criteria, low physical activity (adjusted odds ratio = 4.73, 95% CI: 1.08–20.68), taking multiple antiepileptic drugs (adjusted odds ratio = 8.08, 95% CI: 1.52–42.74), having a total cholesterol level of ≥ 200 mg/dl (adjusted odds ratio = 5.81, 95%: 1.32–41.13) and body mass index (adjusted odds ratio = 1.57, 95% CI = 1.16–2.11) were significantly associated with metabolic syndrome among epileptic participants. Applying National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, taking multiple antiepileptic drugs (adjusted odds ratio = 6.81, 95% CI: 1.29–35.92), having a total cholesterol level > 200 mg/dl (adjusted odds ratio = 7.37, 95% CI: 1.32–41.13) and body mass index (adjusted odds ratio = 1.53, 96% CI: 1.16–2.01) were also significantly associated. Conclusion The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among epileptic patients was higher than that of control groups and reaches statistically significant by National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III. Being on multiple antiepileptic drugs, body mass index, having low physical activity and raised total cholesterol were significantly associated with metabolic syndrome among the epileptic group. Therefore, it is better to focus on controlling weight, having sufficient physical exercise, and regular monitoring of total cholesterol levels in epileptic patients.

Background Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a life-threatening parasitic disease next to malaria, which is responsible for the death of 50,000 patients annually. It has three major clinical stages, including visceral, cutaneous, and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis. Ethiopia is one of the east African countries commonly affected with leishmanisis disease. There are many drugs for leishmaniasis, including sodium stibogluconate and paromomycin combined therapy. However, the adverse effect of those combined drugs is not well-defined. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess serum amylase, lipase, and associated factors among patients with VL treatment with those combined drugs. Methods Hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital Leishmaniasis Research and Treatment Center from February to September 2020 G.C. Simple random sampling technique was utilized to select study participants. The study participants who fulfill the inclusion criteria were included in the study with written informed consent. 5 ml of blood was withdrawn by an experienced health professional to analyze serum amylase and lipase level. Descriptive data was presented by tables, charts and graphs. Data was cleared, entered by Epi-data version 3.1 then transfer to STATA 14.1 SE version and for analysis paired t-test was used, for factors correlation and regression was used. Those factor variable who have p-value <0.25 was filtered and goes to multivariate regression and p-value <0.05 was considered as significant variables. Results The result of this study showed that there was a significant mean difference between serum pancreatic amylase and lipase before and after treatment. The mean ± SD level of serum amylase after treatment showed a statistically significant elevation (P<0.001) as compared to its level before treatment. Similarly, the mean ± SD level of serum lipase after treatment showed a statistically significant elevation (P<0.001) as compared to its level before treatment. There was also significant association between age and baseline serum amylase as compared to serum amylase after treatment. Similarly, there was also significant relation of age and serum lipase with serum lipase after treatment. Conclusion In this study, the level of serum amylase and lipase at treatment of cure was higher and there was an increase in mean serum amylase and lipase after a patient taking sodium stibogluconate and paromomycin combined drugs. Consequently, the elevated result of these biochemical profiles mainly associated with drug induced adverse effect and associated risk factors in VL patients.