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Objective: To determine the prevalence of anemia and associated factors (malaria and intestinal helminthiasis) in high risk groups of Lubumbashi, Congo, particularly in pregnant and breast-feeding women and children aged 1-2 years., Material and Methods: From March to May 2002, 632 pregnant women, 570 breast-feeding women, and 570 infants (1-2 years) were examined in three medical centers in Lubumbashi, Congo. Some of the subjects lived in deprived semi-urban areas (Bongonga and Sendwe), others in urban areas with a satisfactory socio-economic situation (University Clinic)., Results: Overall frequency of anemia was estimated between 50 and 80% in the study populations. The proportion of anemic cases was clearly higher in the Sendwe and Bongonga populations (70-80%) than in the other urban populations (50%) (P<0.01). For the three categories of examined subjects, anemia was found to be most prevalent among pregnant women (P<0.05). Anemia was found to be associated with malaria in 40% of the patients and with intestinal parasitism (ascaris / ankylostoma) in 9%., Conclusion: Considering these results, systematic screening and treatment of anemia and associated factors such as malaria and intestinal helminthiasis is needed for the Lubumbashi population.

The recent discovery of a local renin-angiotensin system in trophoblastic tissues has raised many questions regarding its role in the physiology of normal gestation and its implications in the pathophysiology of hypertension during pregnancy. In this article, the authors first review the most interesting aspects of the chorioplacental renin-angiotensin system, dwelling on the tissue distribution of angiotensin II and its receptor subtypes in the placenta and fetal membranes of different species. The relationship between angiotensin II and other locally synthesized chorioplacental substances is also analysed and the therapeutic implications of phenomena observed in pregnancy-associated hypertension are discussed.

Radio-immuno-assay estimations of urinary hCG were carried out with pharmacia Kit beta hCG Riact on 36 women who had received embryo transfers. The analysis was carried in order to try and find how and at what moment in time it is possible to diagnose very early a developing pregnancy after embryo transfer. In this work we have found that the mean level of urinary hCG was significantly higher (P less than 0.001) in women who became pregnant (group B) than in those who did not become pregnant (group A). The difference in mean hormone levels in these two groups became more marked in the following days. The time doubling of the hCG level varied between 1.21 and 3.24 days in group B. By the eighth day the level of urinary hCG was less in group B than in group A, probably due to rapid renal breakdown of hCG. In summary these results show that the level of urinary hCG estimated from the 11th day onwards after an embryo transfer repeated two or three days later makes it possible to detect early pregnancies.