Antiretroviral therapy (ART) causes disturbances in the normal function of the endocrine system and has been associated with thyroid dysfunction in HIV patients on treatment. More data on thyroid dysfunction are needed in Zimbabwe to persuade the country program to institute routine monitoring if needed. We sought to establish if ART exposure is associated with thyroid dysfunction in HIV patients. A cross-sectional study with two comparative groups was conducted between 1 October and 31 December 2016. The participants included HIV-infected persons aged 18+ years who attended Opportunistic Infections (OI) clinics in urban areas around Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Patient samples were tested at the Parirenyatwa Serology Laboratory in Harare, Zimbabwe. The two comparative groups were defined as cases and controls. Cases were HIV positive patients with thyroid dysfunction whilst controls were HIV positive patients without thyroid dysfunction. Participants included 100 females and 93 males who were on ART. The mean age was 34.6 (10.2) years and median age was 33.0 (43.5-68.3) years. The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction was 45.6% and all cases had hypothyroidism. Sex was not associated with thyroid dysfunction, but thyroid dysfunction was more significant in older patients (P=0.031). This study confirms that ART is associated with thyroid dysfunction in older HIV patients on ART. These results are worrying and may suggest a need for the country HIV program to establish strategies to mitigate this. It is cause for concern because the presence of an untreated thyroid dysfunction in HIV patients will worsen their prognosis.

Comprehensive chemical analysis was carried out for products of sugarcane in an attempt to find the effect of burning and the time taken from cut to mill on cane deterioration and dextran levels in sugars and by-products (molasses) from HalfaAlgadidah Sugar Factory for three varieties cane (V1, V2 and V3); corresponding to Co-6806, Co-527 and Co-986 at six periods (T1, T2, T3, T4 , T5 , T6)corresponding to (3 , 6 , 12 , 24 , 36 and 48) hours, respectively, during 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 seasons. Randomized complete plot design with three replications was used in this study. After harvest, the dextran levels were the same in the three varieties for the same duration, but they were significantly different at P ≤ 0.05 between burnt and green cane at different times. The average levels of dextran in sugars, juices and molasses were increased with the time taken from cut to mill. The dextran levels in sugar and molasses were ranged (296 – 1860, 412 – 2247) ppm for the duration of 3 to 48 hours after harvesting, respectively. The deterioration products, such as dextran, formed quickly and increased rapidly with the time taken from cut to mill, for burnt cane more than green cane.

Colon cancer is currently the third most common cancer in both men and women after lung and breast cancer. Incidence and mortality rates have been declining since the 1980's, partially due to improvements in screening and prevention. Colon cancer is the cancer that formed in the tissues of the colon (the longest part of large intestine). Most colon cancers are adenocarcinomas. Many studies have been done to elucidate the ability of iron to rule out colon cancer. Some of these studies encouraged using iron status as early predictors of gastrointestinal tumors. The aim of this study was to estimate level of serum iron and ferritin among colonic cancer patients according to gender, age, Hb and weigh levels. This study included 100 patients diagnosed as a colonic cancer. The majority of patients were male, 67 representing 67 % of respondents and only 33 were female representing 33%. Age distribution among patients demonstrates a majority of the age interval (40-60) years representing 46 %. The association between serum iron and ferritin was found to be significant with the level of Hb. In the distribution of study population according to weight, the majority was shown in weight between (51-70) kg representing 57 % of total respondents. Regarding correlation between serum iron, ferritin and weigh, no significant was found to be observed.