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Recently attention has been focused on the investigation of new and effective routes for drug administration in order to avoid their side effects in the human body. Red blood cells (RBCs) exhibit many advantages, i.e., they are naturally occurring, biodegradable, and non-immunogenic. Their use as drug carriers has many potential applications, including slow drug delivery to the body tissue and drug targeting to a specific site. In this work, the fluorescent exogenous agent sodium fluorescein (uranin) was used as the probe for the encapsulation of the RBCs. The encapsulation process was applied in two different mammalian RBCs: camel and bovine. The results indicate that the encapsulation efficiency of bovine RBCs was 34.0 +/- 3.0% with an RBC recovery rate of approximately 75% whereas that of camel RBCs was only 8.0 +/- 2.0% with a cell recovery rate of approximately 47%. These differences demonstrate the dependency of the encapsulation process on the type of mammalian source of the RBCs.

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PIP: A comparative study was conducted to assess systemic responses to IUD insertion. In particular, the pattern of plasma proteins, especially the acute-phase reactants and immunoglobulins, are measured. 100 women attending family planning centers in Cairo, Egypt, were randomly selected for the study: 20 served as controls, 20 had been using the Cu-7 for less than 1 year and 20 for more than 1 year, 20 had been using the Lippes Loop for less than 1 year and 20 for more than 1 year. The various serum immunoglobulins or acute-phase reactants assayed behaved differently according to the nature of the IUD-induced trauma, the duration of the trauma, and the organ's response. No significant changes in serum alpha2M, alphalAT, alphalS, and IgA levels were observed with either device throughout the study. Cu-7 IUDs tended to induce significantly higher increases in serum levels of acute-phase reactants(C4, Hp, and CRP) and IgG and IgM. IUDs can impose mechanical, biochemical, nervous, and possibly infective traumas on endometrial tissues. Some of these reactions will be more longlasting than others. This study documents the existence of both local and systemic trauma, IUD-induced. Incorporation of copper in the IUD may trigger abnormal biochemical reactions, described as biochemical trauma.^ieng

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The serum levels of estrone, estradiol and estriol in males with various stages of bilharzial liver disease were determined using a radioimmunoassay method. The study included thirty male patients with bilharzial liver disease representing the three stages of hepato-splenomegaly, shrunken liver and ascites. Twenty healthy males were taken as controls. Serum estrone and estriol levels were significantly higher, serum estradiol showed either mild decrease or insignificant change in the bilharzial group as compared to the normals.

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Oral administration of carnitine in normal and diabetic subjects showed a marked decrease in the level of blood glucose during the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) except for the three hour samples in diabetic subjects, while a decrease in the level of subsequent blood pyruvate samples was observed during the OGTT in normal and diabetic subjects after the administration of carnitine. During the OGTT, the peak of blood glucose and blood pyruvate level was generally delayed in the diabetic subjects. Furthermore, the mean blood pyruvate levels were elevated above those of normal subjects during the late stages of the test. The mean levels of blood glucose and blood pyruvate of all samples after the administration of carnitine were significantly higher in diabetics than the corresponding values in noramls. Carnitine administration decreased the total blood amino acid nitrogen level only in diabetic subjects. Carnitine caused a highly significant increase in the activity of serum alanine aminotransferase in normal and diabetic subjects, while it had no effect on the activity of serum aspartate aminotransferase. In goats, the level of blood glucose during the intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) was not affected by carnitine (1,3 or 6 mg/kg body weight). Carnitine in all doses used had no effect on the total blood amino acid nitrogen during the IVGTT, or on the activity of serum alanine aminotransferase and serum aspartate aminotransferase in the fasting samples. Acetyl-D,L-beta-methylcholine had no effect on the level of blood glucose, total blood amino acid nitrogen, the activity of serum alanine aminotransferase or serum aspartate aminotransferase in normal and diabetic subjects. The level of blood pyruvate decreased both in normal and diabetic subjects, in the samples that represented the peak of the curve. Glycine betaine had no effect on blood glucose, pyruvate, total blood amino acid nitrogen and the activity of serum alanine aminotransferase or serum aspartate amino transferase in normal and diabetic subjects or in goats.

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The effect of some heterocyclic compounds on some aspects of human semen metabolism was studied. Caffeine produced stimulation of motility and lactic acid production and an inhibition of fructose utilization and oxygen uptake. Nicotinamide and riboflavin produced stimulation of motility, fructose utilization and oxygen uptake and an inhibition of lactic acid production.

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The effect of Quinestrol (3-0-cyclopentyl-17alpha-ethinyl-1, 3, 5 (10)-triene-3,17-diol), a long acting estrogenic contraceptive steroid, on plasma lipids has been studied in ten women for three months. It was found to lower plasma free fatty acids, cholesterol and cholesterol esters, but to increase plasma phospholipids and triglycerides. The possible causes of these alterations are discussed.

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