Background The incidence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) has greatly increased, mainly due to high level of dietary sodium. Thus, reduction of sodium intake in population has been recognized as one of the most cost-effective strategies to reduce NCDs. The aim of this study was to estimate sodium and potassium consumption in a sample of Moroccan children as a baseline study to implement national strategy for salt intake reduction. Methods The study was conducted on 131 children aged 6–18 years recruited from Rabat and its region. Sodium excretion and potassium excretion were measured on 24 h urinary collection, and the creatinine excretion was used to validate completeness of urine collections. Results The average of urinary sodium was 2235.3 ± 823.2 mg/day, and 50% of children consume more than 2 g/d of sodium (equivalent to 5 g/day of salt), recommended by the WHO. However, daily urinary excretion of potassium was 1431 ± 636.5 mg/day, and 75% of children consume less than adequate intake. Sodium consumption increased significantly with age. Of particular interest, 46.7% of children aged 6–8 years and 49.3% of children aged 9–13 years consume more than the corresponding upper limits. Conclusions Children have high sodium and low potassium status. There is evidence of the urgent need to implement a strategy for reduction of dietary sodium intake in Morocco.

Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with more human cancers than any other virus. Many studies have investigated the association between bladder cancer and HPV but the results remain controversial. The aim of the present study is to evaluate whether HPV have an etiological role in bladder carcinogenesis among Moroccan patients. Methodology: Forty-eight fresh biopsies (43 bladder tumors and 5 non-tumor samples) were collected for this purpose. Nested PCR with the consensus MY09/MY11 and GP5

BackgroundLimited national information is available in Morocco on the prevalence and distribution of HPV-sub-types of cervical cancer and the role of other risk factors. The aim was to determine the frequency of HPV-sub-types of cervical cancer in Morocco and investigate risk factors for this disease.MethodsBetween November 2009 and April 2012 a multicentre case-control study was carried out. A total of 144 cases of cervical cancer and 288 age-matched controls were included. Odds-ratios and corresponding confidence-intervals were computed by conditional logistic regression models.ResultsCurrent HPV infection was detected in 92.5% of cases and 13.9% of controls. HPV16 was the most common type for both cases and controls. Very strong associations between HPV-sub-types and cervical cancer were observed: total-HPV (OR = 39), HPV16 (OR = 49), HPV18 (OR = 31), and multiple infections (OR = 13). Education, high parity, sexual intercourse during menstruation, history of sexually transmitted infections, and husband’s multiple sexual partners were also significantly associated with cervical cancer in the multivariate analysis.ConclusionsOur results could be used to establish a primary prevention program and to prioritize limited screening to women who have specific characteristics that may put them at an increased risk of cervical cancer.

Background Regular physical activity in childhood and adolescent plays an important role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular health diseases, diabetes, and obesity in adulthood. However, little is known about physical activity levels (PA) and sedentary time among children and adolescents in Morocco. Objective To examine gender, type of day, and age grade differences in objectively measured sedentary time, physical activity levels, and physical activity guideline attainment among children and adolescents in Morocco. Method172 children/adolescents (mean age = 10.92 ± 1.55 years, 49.4% are boys) were recruited for this study and wore a tri-axial accelerometer (GT3X+) for 7 consecutive days. Time spent in sedentary, PA levels, and daily steps were measured and compared according to gender, age grade, and the type of day (weekdays/weekends). Results In weekdays children/adolescents spent more time in sedentary than weekends (p < 0.001). Boys were eight times more likely to meet the recommendation for at least 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day than girls (OR: 8.569; 95% [CI]: 4.23–17.32), p < 0.001. Conclusion These findings highlight the need for effective and sustainable strategies and programs aiming to promote physical activity and to reduce sedentary behavior among children and adolescents in Morocco.

BackgroundWorldwide, tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem and the rapid diagnosis and appropriate chemotherapy become the first priority and a serious challenge to improve TB treatment. In the objective of early TB diagnosis and rapid detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) in the clinical specimens, the utility of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) using the Insertion Sequence 6110 “IS6110" as target was compared to conventional methods.MethodsOut of 305 patients with different clinical manifestations: suspected, new, drug relapse, drug failure and chronic cases were enrolled in this study and tested by mycobacteriological and PCR techniques for the investigation about the tubercle bacilli.ResultsThe results of the in house “IS6110" PCR showed a good sensitivity (92.4%) and high specificity (98.0%), the positive and negative predictive values were 96.4 % and 95.3 % respectively.ConclusionThis study showed clearly that the PCR testing using the “IS6110" in the routine analysis is a potential tool for the rapid TB diagnosis, especially for critical cases and would be of great interest to help the clinician in the misdiagnosed critical cases by the traditional radiology.

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One of the greatest threats to global tuberculosis (TB) control is the growing prevalence of drug resistant strains. In the past decades, considerable efforts have been made upon the development of new molecular technologies and methodologies for detection of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). A sensitive, specific reverse line blot assay, called rifoligotyping (RIFO), for the detection of genotypic resistance to rifampicin (RIF), was designed and evaluated. RIFO includes oligonucleotide probes specific for wild-type and mutant sequences, allowing specific and sensitive detection of both genotypes in a single assay. The RIFO was applied on 500 MTB isolates from Morocco. The results of the RIFO showed a good sensitivity (90.9%) and high specificity (100%); the positive and negative predictive values were 100% and 96.1%, respectively. This rapid, simple, economical assay provides a practical alternative for RIF genotyping, especially in low-income countries, to improve TB control and management.

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