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Background: Clozapine and olanzapine are highly associated with the risk of metabolic syndrome resulting in lower functional outcomes, poorer quality of life and non-compliance to treatment. Objective: The current study examined the rate of assessment of metabolic syndrome parameters in patients on olanzapine attending Almasarrah Hospital in Muscat. Methods: Patients starting olanzapine between January 2014 and May 2015 were recruited to the study, which is based on the retrospective revision of cases gathered from medical records over a period of 18 months. Patients aged 18 years or above, who were prescribed olanzapine and had five or more hospital visits were included. Demographics included physical health parameters with regards to metabolic syndrome, namely blood pressure, weight, fasting blood sugar level and lipid profile. Results were compared to the ADA-APA monitoring protocol for patients on second generation antipsychotics. Results: N=46 patients met study inclusion criteria. No gender difference was identified. Most (74%) were between 21 and 40 years of age with 50% diagnosed with schizophrenia; 50% did not have a baseline lipid profile and 30% had blood sugar levels checked prior to olanzapine therapy. The majority (97%) had blood pressure and weight measured at baseline and follow-up. Overall, none of the patients matched the full standards of the ADA-APA protocol. Conclusion: Screening for metabolic syndrome among patient prescribed olanzapine in Almasarrah Hospital is behind international standards. This is especially true for lipid profile and fasting blood sugar level parameters. Findings are consistent with similar studies. Further studies should assess factors contributing to suboptimal monitoring of olanzapine-induced metabolic syndrome.

The purpose of this study was to characterize fungal and oomycete species associated with root diseases of Phaseolus vulgaris , Vigna unguiculata , V. radiata and Vicia faba in Oman. Root samples were collected from plants suffering from weakened growth and yellowing symptoms. Fungal species were isolated on 2.5% potato dextrose agar amended with 10 mg l −1 rifampicin and 200 mg l −1 of ampicillin and identification was based on sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region of the ribosomal RNA gene (ITS rRNA), glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH), translation elongation factor-1 alpha (TEF), beta-tubulin (TUB), calmodulin (CMD), actin (ACT). Isolations yielded 204 fungal isolates belonging to nine different genera, with most isolates belonging to Alternaria and Fusarium . Molecular identification revealed that the isolates belong to 20 fungal species, the most dominant of which was Alternaria alternata . Pathogenicity tests were conducted on each plant species. The inoculations on P. vulgaris revealed that Pythium aphanidermatum induced rotting, damping-off and wilt symptoms while Fusarium equiseti induced yellowing symptoms on the leaves. Rhizoctonia solani produced lesions and root rot on Vigna unguiculata while Curvularia muehlenbeckiae and Curvularia caricae-papayae produced root lesions on the roots of V. unguiculata and V. radiata , respectively. Alternaria alternata produced brown symptoms on the tap root of Vicia faba . P. aphanidermatum resulted in a significant reduction in the fresh weight, dry weight and shoot length of Phaseolus vulgaris . The study shows that several fungal species can be found associated with the roots of beans and Vigna unguiculata in Oman and can result in varying disease symptoms. This is the first report of root lesions produced by Curvularia muehlenbeckiae on the roots of V. unguiculata and by C. caricae-papayae on V. radiata worldwide.