Effect of Envenomation on Serum Hepatic Biomarkers in Snake (Echis Ocellatus) Bitten Individuals in Zamko Comprehensive Health Centre of the Jos University Teaching Hospital, North Central Nigeria.

Background: Snake bite is a neglected public health issue in many tropical and subtropical countries of the world. About 5.4 million snakebites occur each year, resulting in 1.

Rising prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus and its associated risk factors in Makurdi, North-Central Region of Nigeria.

Background: The disease burden of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in sub-Saharan African region have been on the rise. Proper assessment of current prevalence of GDM may inform policy changes and management approach for improved care delivery.

Objective: To determine the current prevalence of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) and evaluate its major risk factors amongst pregnant women in Makurdi, North-Central Nigeria.

Serum reference intervals of micronutrients, vitamins, and interleukins among healthy adults in South-Western Nigeria.

Objectives: Clinical decision making depends mostly on appropriate application of numerical pathology reports from laboratory results, interpreted by comparison with reference intervals. We determined serum reference intervals of micronutrients, vitamins, and detectable interleukins among healthy adults in South-Western Nigeria.

Design And Methods: This prospective study used a priori selection approach in blood-donors.

A first trimester prediction model and nomogram for gestational diabetes mellitus based on maternal clinical risk factors in a resource-poor setting.

Background: The implementation of universal screening for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is challenged by several factors key amongst which is limited resources, hence the continued reliance on risk factor-based screening. Effective identification of high-risk women early in pregnancy may enable preventive intervention. This study aimed at developing a GDM prediction model based on maternal clinical risk factors that are easily assessable in the first trimester of pregnancy in a population of Nigerian women.

Kidney Function in Hypertensive Patients with Left Ventricular Hypertrophy.

Background: Impairment of kidney function is one of the long-term sequelae of hypertension and it contributes to increased morbidity and mortality in hypertensive patients. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a common complication of hypertension which can worsen the outcome in affected patients. This study was designed to compare kidney function in hypertensive patients with LVH with that in hypertensive patients without LVH.

Camel milk ameliorates diabetes in pigs by preventing oxidative stress, inflammation and enhancing beta cell function.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine how camel milk affects hyperglycemia, beta-cell function, oxidative stress, and inflammatory markers in type 2 diabetic pigs.

Methods: Twenty-five (25) pigs were separated into five (5) groups of five pigs each, with five (5) non-diabetic and twenty (20) diabetic pigs in each group. Groups 1 and 2 received distilled water as the standard control and diabetic control groups, respectively, while Groups 3 and 4 received camel milk at 250 mL/day and 500 mL/day, respectively, and Group 5 received metformin at 500 mg/day.

Neurobehavioral and Immunohistochemical Studies of the Cerebral Cortex Following Treatment with Ethyl Acetate Leaf Fraction of During Prenatal Aluminum Chloride Exposure in Wistar Rats.

Purpose: The recent increase in aluminum exposure and its effect on the development of the brain call for serious attention. The study investigated the behavioral and immunohistochemical changes in the cerebral cortex of Wistar rats following prenatal co-administration of ethyl acetate leaf fraction of (EATI) and aluminum chloride (AlCl).

Methods: Pregnant Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups (n=4).

Serum Interleukin-6 and Weight Loss in Antiretroviral-naïve and Antiretroviral-treated Patients with HIV/AIDS: Relationships and Predictors.

Background: Cachexia is usually associated with elevated serum interleukin-6 (IL.6) as it stimulates the breakdown of muscle proteins and promotes wasting.

Objective: A case-control study to evaluate the relationship between weight loss, facial fat loss, and IL-6 in antiretroviral-naïve and treated participants living with HIV/AIDS.

ameliorates behavioral and cytoarchitectural changes in the cerebellar cortex following prenatal aluminum chloride exposure in Wistar rats.

Aluminium exposure has been linked with developmental neurotoxicity in humans and experimental animals. The study aimed to evaluate the ameliorative effect of Tamarindus indica on the developing cerebellar cortex, neurobehavior, and immunohistochemistry of the cerebellar cortex following prenatal aluminum chloride (AlCl) exposure. Pregnant timed Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups (n=4).

First trimester sex hormone-binding globulin predicts gestational diabetes mellitus in a population of Nigerian women.

There has been a steady rise in the disease burden of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) in the sub-Saharan African region over time. Diagnostic testing for GDM is currently recommended at 24 - 28 weeks of gestation, leaving a narrow window for intervention before delivery. Hence the need for early prediction and preventive intervention.

Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin Level Enhances Prediction of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in a Sub-Saharan African Population.

Background: The burden of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) in the Sub-Saharan African region has been on the rise despite increased diagnosis and treatment. Current risk factor-based prediction approaches in the region lack strong predictive value, hence the need for effective early prediction and preventive interventions.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic improvement in prediction of GDM by the addition of Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHBG) assay to current approaches which assess early pregnancy maternal clinical risk factors in the study population.

In silico design and analyses of a multi-epitope vaccine against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus through reverse vaccinology and immunoinformatics approaches.

Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFV) is a deadly human pathogen that causes an emerging zoonotic disease with a broad geographic spread, especially in Africa, Asia, and Europe, and the second most common viral hemorrhagic fever and widely transmitted tick-borne viral disease. Following infection, the patients are presented with a variety of clinical manifestations and a fatality rate of 40%. Despite the high fatality rate, there are unmet clinical interventions, as no antiviral drugs or vaccines for CCHF have been approved.

Foliar application of silver nanoparticles differentially intervenes remediation statuses and oxidative stress indicators in planted on gold-mined soil.

The study assessed the intervention of foliar application of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on heavy metal toxicity and phytoremediation status of planted in gold-mined soil. The green synthesized AgNPs absorbed maximally at 425 nm, had an average particle size of 55 ± 2.3 nm and peaks at 3,443 and 1,636 cm.

"Long COVID": A case report of persistent symptoms in a patient with prolonged SARS-CoV-2 shedding for over 110 days.

Coronavirus disease 2019 is a novel disease currently ravaging the world as a pandemic. More emphasis has been focused on the acute disease, with less attention on the detection and management of long-term sequelae which develop in some patients, variously termed "Long COVID," Post-coronavirus disease 2019 syndrome, or ongoing coronavirus disease. There are also various reports in the literature on the duration of viral shedding, with the longest known recorded being about 70 days, and whether this duration has an effect on prognosis or patients remaining infectious is still unknown.

Renal Phosphate Handling in Antiretroviral-naive HIV-Infected Patients.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection impairs renal function, thereby affecting renal phosphate metabolism.

Objectives: We prospectively estimated the prevalence of phosphate abnormalities (mild, moderate to life-threatening hypophosphataemia, and hyperphosphataemia) before initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed on 170 consecutive newly diagnosed ARTnaive, HIV-infected patients attending our HIV/AIDS clinics over a period of one year.

Effects of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on Albuminuria in HIVinfected Persons.

Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), especially tenofovir DFcontaining regimens, has been implicated in albuminuria.

Objective: We prospectively evaluated the effects of HAART on albumin-to-creatinine ratios (ACRs) in antiretroviral-naïve HIV-infected individuals.

Methods: One hundred and two (102) newly diagnosed, antiretroviral-naïve, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons were treated with Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/ Emtricitabine/Efavirenz (TDF/FTC/EFV), n=33; Zidovudine/Lamivudine/Nevirapine (ZDV/3TC/NVP), n=53; and Zidovudine/Lamivudine/Efavirenz (ZDV/3TC/EFV), n=16.

Zero-valent silver nanoparticles attenuate Cd and Pb toxicities on Moringa oleifera via immobilization and induction of phytochemicals.

Potentials of zero-valent extract of cocoa pod mediated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) for heavy metals (cadmium and lead) immobilization, attenuation of induced toxicities and influence on phytochemical contents in Moringa oleifera were investigated. M. oleifera seeds were planted in soil spiked and watered with water (control), 0.

Effects of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy on Renal Function and Renal Phosphate Handling in African Adults with Advanced HIV and CKD.

Background: Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) has been implicated in renal dysfunction with hypophosphataemia.

Objective: We prospectively evaluated renal phosphate excretion during HAART use.

Method: Newly diagnosed human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals were treated with Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/Emtricitabine/Efavirenz (TDF/FTC/EFV), n=33; Zidovudine/Lamivudine/Nevirapine (ZDV/3TC/NVP), n=53; and Zidovudine/Lamivudine/Efavirenz (ZDV/3TC/EFV), n=16.

Median Nerve Conduction in Healthy Nigerians: Normative Data.

Background: Because of lack of local normative data, electrodiagnostic laboratories in Nigeria apply standard values generated in the USA and Europe to diagnose different median nerve abnormalities.

Aim: To develop normative values for motor and sensory median nerve conduction studies (NCSs) in Nigerian population.

Subjects And Methods: In a cross-sectional study design, a total of 200 healthy volunteers were selected after clinical evaluation to exclude systemic or neuromuscular disorders.

Prevalence and Pattern of Chronic Kidney Disease in Antiretroviral-Naïve Patients with HIV/AIDS.

Background: Chronic renal failure and HIV/AIDS are both prevalent in Nigeria. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of renal function in newly diagnosed, treatment-naive HIV-infected patients before initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Methods: Treatment-inexperienced individuals were recruited.

Coagulation profile in severe pre-eclampsia and eclampsia in Ilorin, Nigeria: implications for anaesthetic management in operative obstetrics.

Background: Severe preeclampsia and eclampsia are associated with coagulopathy which may be a contraindication to central neural axial blockade for caesarean section. Many investigations of bleeding tendencies are not done in our environment because of logistic reasons and emergency presentations of these patients.The study was designed to determine the coagulation profile of severe preeclamptic and eclamptic women in labour and possibly arrive at affordable and readily available investigation(s) that can be used in excluding bleeding tendencies in these patients.

Body size preference among Yoruba in three Nigerian communities.

Following our previous observation of an aversion to weight reduction in Nigerians with type 2 diabetes, we measured several parameters of body dimensions and preferences in otherwise healthy adults in three communities to study the phenomenon further. The study population of 524 participants (304 F) was 99.8% of Yoruba ethnic origin with a mean age of 43.

Routine reporting of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in African laboratories and the need for its increased utilisation in clinical practice.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is defined as the presence of markers of kidney damage or of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)<60 mL.min(-1).(1.

Utility of estimated glomerular filtration rate equations in Nigerians with stable chronic kidney disease.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global public health problem. The incidence and prevalence are increasing worldwide, while the outcomes remain poor and treatment cost high. Unfortunately, CKD in Sub-Sahara Africa is usually diagnosed late and supported with limited treatment facility.

Infectivity of macrophages and the histopathology of cutaneous lesions, liver and spleen is attenuated by leaf extract of Vernonia amygdalina in Leishmania major infected BALB/c mice.

Preliminary investigation of the in vitro and in vivo efficacies of different extracts from the leaves of Vernonia amygdalina (VA), a plant widely used in Nigeria was evaluated in Balb/C mice infected with a laboratory strain of Leishmania major (L. major). The ability of the methanol, hexane and aqueous extracts of the plant to suppress the infection rate and its cytotoxicity on macrophages and L929 cells were determined in the in vitro study.