Browsing by Author "Lekoubou, Alain"

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    Effects of diabetes mellitus on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2014) Lekoubou, Alain; Matsha, Tandi; Sobngwi, Eugene; Kengne, Andre
    BACKGROUND:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an incurable motor neuron degenerative disease which onset and course may be affected by concurrent diabetes mellitus (DM). We performed a systematic review to assess the effect of DM/dysglycemic states on ALS. METHODS: We searched PubMed MEDLINE, from inception to March 2013 for original articles published in English and in French languages on DM (and related states) and ALS. We made no restriction per study designs. RESULTS: Seven studies/1410 citations (5 case-control and 2 cross-sectional) were included in the final selection. The number of participants with ALS ranged from 18 to 2371. The outcome of interest was ALS and DM/dysglycemic states respectively in three and two case control-studies. DM/impaired glucose tolerance status did not affect disease progression, survival, disease severity and disease duration in ALS participants but ALS participants with DM were found to be older in one study. DM/IGT prevalence was similar in both ALS and non ALS participants. This review was limited by the absence of prospective cohort studies and the heterogeneity in ALS and DM diagnosis criteria. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review suggests that evidences for the association of ALS and DM are rather limited and derived from cross-sectional studies. Prospective studies supplemented by ALS registries and animal studies are needed to better understand the relationship between both conditions.
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    Open Access
    Epidemiology of neurodegenerative diseases in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review
    (BioMed Central Ltd, 2014) Lekoubou, Alain; Echouffo-Tcheugui, Justin; Kengne, Andre
    BACKGROUND:Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are experiencing rapid transitions with increased life expectancy. As a result the burden of age-related conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases might be increasing. We conducted a systematic review of published studies on common neurodegenerative diseases, and HIV-related neurocognitive impairment in SSA, in order to identify research gaps and inform prevention and control solutions. METHODS: We searched MEDLINE via PubMed, 'Banque de Donnees de Sante Publique' and the database of the 'Institut d'Epidemiologie Neurologique et de Neurologie Tropicale' from inception to February 2013 for published original studies from SSA on neurodegenerative diseases and HIV-related neurocognitive impairment. Screening and data extraction were conducted by two investigators. Bibliographies and citations of eligible studies were investigated. RESULTS: In all 144 publications reporting on dementia (n=49 publications, mainly Alzheimer disease), Parkinsonism (PD, n=20), HIV-related neurocognitive impairment (n=47), Huntington disease (HD, n=19), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, n=15), cerebellar degeneration (n=4) and Lewy body dementia (n=1). Of these studies, largely based on prevalent cases from retrospective data on urban populations, half originated from Nigeria and South Africa. The prevalence of dementia (Alzheimer disease) varied between <1% and 10.1% (0.7% and 5.6%) in population-based studies and from <1% to 47.8% in hospital-based studies. Incidence of dementia (Alzheimer disease) ranged from 8.7 to 21.8/1000/year (9.5 to 11.1), and major risk factors were advanced age and female sex. HIV-related neurocognitive impairment's prevalence (all from hospital-based studies) ranged from <1% to 80%. Population-based prevalence of PD and ALS varied from 10 to 235/100,000, and from 5 to 15/100,000 respectively while that for Huntington disease was 3.5/100,000. Equivalent figures for hospital based studies were the following: PD (0.41 to 7.2%), ALS (0.2 to 8.0/1000), and HD (0.2/100,000 to 46.0/100,000). CONCLUSIONS: The body of literature on neurodegenerative disorders in SSA is large with regard to dementia and HIV-related neurocognitive disorders but limited for other neurodegenerative disorders. Shortcomings include few population-based studies, heterogeneous diagnostic criteria and uneven representation of countries on the continent. There are important knowledge gaps that need urgent action, in order to prepare the sub-continent for the anticipated local surge in neurodegenerative diseases.