Vitamin D and associated factors, among pregnant women in southeastern Nigeria.

In this prospective study on vitamin D and its associated factors conducted on 256 pregnant women from Anambra state of southeastern Nigeria, Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) occurred in 36 (14.1%). Vitamin D levels were significantly associated with parity, gestational age, social class, place of abode, skin colour, workplace location, and compliance to ANC drugs.

The effects of highly active antiretroviral therapy on the serum levels of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in HIV infected subjects.

Background: Cytokines play an important role in controlling the homeostasis of the immune system and infection with Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) leads to deregulated production of both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. This study was designed to determine the effects of HIV and Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) on the levels of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines in HIV infected subjects.

Method: A total of 50 HIV infected and 50 HIV seronegative control participants were recruited for the study.

Impact of thyroid function abnormalities on reproductive hormones during menstrual cycle in premenopausal HIV infected females at NAUTH, Nnewi, Nigeria.

Background: This was a prospective study designed to evaluate the impact of thyroid function abnormalities on reproductive hormones during menstrual cycle in HIV infected females at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, South-East Nigeria.

Methods: The study randomly recruited 35 Symptomatic HIV infected females and 35 Symptomatic HIV infected females on antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for not less than six weeks from an HIV clinic and 40 apparently heathy control females among the hospital staff of NAUTH Nnewi. They were all premenopausal females with regular menstrual cycle and aged between 15-45 years.

Evaluation of antioxidant status of female diabetic patients in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Anambra State, Nigeria.

Diabetes mellitus has become an onerous disease to developing countries such as Nigeria. Rapid acceptance of urbanisation and sedentary life styles pose an encumbrance to its prevention and management. Increased oxidative stress in diabetes mellitus has been implicated as a culprit in perpetuating antioxidant depletion and diabetic complications in diabetes mellitus individuals.

Lipid and Some Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors Assessment in a Rural Community in Eastern Nigeria.

Background: Continuous re-evaluation of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (cardiovascular diseases [CVDs]) in developing nations is imperative as it lays foundation for early preventive/intervention measures at grass root level to improve/prevent CVD morbidity and mortality in those nations where health indices still score below the standard.

Aim: The aim was to assess CVD risk factors as a continuous re-evaluation of these may underscore the need for early intervention measures at grass root level.

Subjects And Methods: A total of 257 apparently healthy inhabitants aged 18-85 years were recruited in a rural community in South Eastern Nigeria by convenient sampling.

Evaluation of hormonal changes in menstrual cycle of women infected with pulmonary tuberculosis in Nnewi, south eastern Nigeria.

Background & Objective: The present study was designed to evaluate the hormonal changes in menstrual cycle of premenopausal women infected with pulmonary tuberculosis in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi.

Material And Methods: A prospective study involving sixty-seven (67) female participants within the child-bearing age were randomly recruited and grouped based on their tuberculosis status as: Symptomatic TB infected females (n=20), Symptomatic TB infected females on ATT (n=20) and Control females (n=27). After due consent, a detailed medical history was obtained and routine investigations of pulmonary tuberculosis and confirmation using Ziehl Neelsen and sputum culture techniques for AFB and chest x-ray were done.

Lipid patterns, alcohol intake and BMI of adult Nigerians in a sub-urban slum in Enugu, Nigeria.

Introduction: Demonstration of cardiovascular disease (CVD) markers in healthy subjects with normal blood chemistry tests underscores the need to study social determinants of risk factors to aid primary prevention worldwide; particularly in slums which harbor nearly 80% of rural to urban migrants in the epidemiologically transiting Africa where CVDs were previously unknown. The objective of this study was to assess lipids in relationship to alcohol consumption and BMI in a Nigerian slum.

Methods: Cross sectional community based prevalent study involving 191 apparently healthy inhabitants aged 18-85 years recruited by convenient sampling.

Iron status of some pregnant women in Orlu town--eastern Nigeria.

Background: High prevalence of anaemia has been reported among pregnant women especially in developing nations. This paper considers maternal haemoglobin (Hb) level, serum total iron, iron binding capacity, and serum ferritn iin antenatal women in Orlu-Imo State Nigeria.

Patients And Methods: Haemoglobin level, serum iron, serum ferritin, and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) were measured in different trimesters among 90 pregnant women aged 20-45 years, on iron supplements attending antenatal clinic of Imo State University Teaching Hospital Orlu.

Changes in lipids and lipoprotein indices in relation to the severity of hypertension in newly diagnosed hypertensive nigerians.

Hypertension and dyslipidaemia are important components of metabolic syndrome and both are known to complicate each other. Materials and Methods. A total of 149 subjects consisting of 107 hypertensive patients, grouped into 3 (of 37, 35, and 35 patients categorized based on the grade of hypertension as grade 1, grade 2, and grade 3, resp.

Antioxidant activity in HIV and malaria co-infected subjects in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria.

Objective: To determine the antioxidant status of HIV and malaria co-infected participants.

Methods: Blood samples collected from the 193 randomly recruited participants were used for HIV screening, Plasmodium falciparum antigen screening, malaria parasite density count, CD4(+) T cell count, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase and total antioxidant status measurement. Standard laboratory methods were used for the analysis.

Comparative study of C-reactive protein and other biochemical parameters in patients with hepatitis B and malaria in Calabar, Nigeria.

Serum levels of C-reactive proteins (CRP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total protein, albumin and globulins were investigated using high sensitivity immunoturbidometric and colorimetric techniques in individuals with hepatitis (n=50), malaria (n=50) and 40 control subjects in age range of 30 to 65 years. The hepatitis patients had a significantly higher (P < 0.01) level of aminotransferases when compared to malaria patients and control subjects.

The clinical and pathological features of hepatocellular carcinoma in Nnewi, Nigeria.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains the commonest malignancy of the liver. In spite of the recent advances in treatment, prognosis is still abysmal especially in developing countries. This article aims to review the clinical and pathological features of HCC in a tertiary hospital at Nnewi.

Evaluation of blood pressure and indices of obesity in a typical rural community in eastern Nigeria.

Aim: With increasing urbanization of lifestyle, cardiovascular morbidity and mortality have been on the increase in Africans. Studies on cardiovascular risk factors in rural communities in South East Nigeria are scarce. This study focused on hypertension and obesity in adult Nigerians dwelling in a rural setting in Eastern Nigeria.

Serum urea and uric acid concentration in pregnant women in sub-urban commercial community in Africa.

Serum uric acid and urea levels were determined in 27 pregnant and 17 non-pregnant black African women. Uric acid levels for the pregnant women were significantly raised, and the relationship between uric acid elevation and gestational proteinuric hypertension was discussed. In conclusion, we recommend that uric acid estimation should be included during routine antenatal clinics in normal pregnancy.

Effects of cilnidipine on lipids, lipoproteins and fibrinolytic system in hypertensive patients.

Sixteen Japanese patients of both sexes aged 46-78 years with essential hypertension were studied at the cardiac clinic of the Department of Cardiology, Shizuoka General Hospital, Shizuoka, Japan. Serum lipids, lipoproteins, plasma fibrinolytic parameters, renin and noradrenaline were determined before and after 3 months of cilnidipine treatment. Systolic and diastolic blood pressures and heart rate were reduced while renin and noradrenaline levels remained unchanged after cilnidipine treatment.

INFLUENCE OF BASELINE VALUES ON LIPIDS, LIPOPROTEINS AND FIBRINOLYTIC PARAMETERS DURING TREATMENT OF HYPERTENSION WITH CILNIDIPINE.

Sixteen adult hypertensive patients of both sexes, classified as having 'medium' (total lipid profile 240-300 mg dl(-1)), and 'high' (total lipid profile >300 mg dl(-1)) baseline values, underwent serum lipids, lipoproteins and plasma fibrinolytic parameters evaluations after 3 months of cilnidipine treatment. Patients with 'medium baseline values' did not have any change in lipids, lipoproteins and fibrinolytic parameters while patients with 'high baseline values' had beneficial lipid and lipoprotein changes [decreases in total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDLC) and increases in high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDLC), and HDLC/TC ratio] after cilnidipine treatment. Changes in lipids were negatively associated with fibrinolysis for the patients with 'medium baseline values' and positively associated in patients with 'high baseline values' after cilnidipine treatment.

INFLUENCE OF BASELINE VALUES ON LIPIDS, LIPOPROTEINS AND FIBRINOLYTIC PARAMETERS DURING AMLODIPINE TREATMENT OF HYPERTENSION IN JAPANESE PATIENTS.

Twenty-four Japanese hypertensive patients of both sexes, grouped as having 'medium' and 'high' baseline total lipid values, had their serum lipids, lipoproteins and plasma fibrinolytic parameters, renin and noradrenaline levels determined after 3 months of amlodipine treatment. For the patients with 'medium baseline values', total plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and t-PA-PAI-1 complex levels decreased, while the changes in lipids and lipoproteins were not significant after amlodipine treatment. For the patients with 'high baseline values', the mean triglyceride and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDLC) levels were reduced while the reductions in total and free PAI-1 and the increase in tissue plasminogen (t-PA) levels were not significant after amlodipine treatment.

Influence of baseline values on lipids, lipoproteins and fibrinolytic parameters during treatment of hypertension with cilnidipine.

Sixteen adult hypertensive patients of both sexes, classified as having 'medium' (total lipid profile 240-300 mg dl(-1)), and 'high' (total lipid profile >300 mg dl(-1)) baseline values, underwent serum lipids, lipoproteins and plasma fibrinolytic parameters evaluations after 3 months of cilnidipine treatment. Patients with 'medium baseline values' did not have any change in lipids, lipoproteins and fibrinolytic parameters while patients with 'high baseline values' had beneficial lipid and lipoprotein changes [decreases in total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDLC) and increases in high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDLC), and HDLC/TC ratio] after cilnidipine treatment. Changes in lipids were negatively associated with fibrinolysis for the patients with 'medium baseline values' and positively associated in patients with 'high baseline values' after cilnidipine treatment.

Influence of baseline values on lipids, lipoproteins and fibrinolytic parameters during amlodipine treatment of hypertension in Japanese patients.

Twenty-four Japanese hypertensive patients of both sexes, grouped as having 'medium' and 'high' baseline total lipid values, had their serum lipids, lipoproteins and plasma fibrinolytic parameters, renin and noradrenaline levels determined after 3 months of amlodipine treatment. For the patients with 'medium baseline values', total plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and t-PA-PAI-1 complex levels decreased, while the changes in lipids and lipoproteins were not significant after amlodipine treatment. For the patients with 'high baseline values', the mean triglyceride and very low density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDLC) levels were reduced while the reductions in total and free PAI-1 and the increase in tissue plasminogen (t-PA) levels were not significant after amlodipine treatment.

Utilisation of clinical chemistry tests, with special reference to lipid profile, in disease management in a Nigeria setting.

Background: Previous reports show that most Nigerian patients have not been subjected to detailed clinical chemistry investigations, especially lipid profiles during the course of their management.

Objective: To evaluate the level of utilisation of clinical chemistry tests, especially lipid profile, in the management of certain selected diseases.

Design: Analytical study of clinical chemistry tests done in patients with hypertension, liver diseases, nephrotic syndrome and peripheral neuropathy and in control subjects between January 1995 and December 1996.

Lipid and lipoprotein cardiovascular risk factor changes during normal pregnancy in Africans.

Objectives: The study was designed to determine how pregnancy affects lipid and lipoprotein profiles among women living in a typical suburban commercial community in Africa, and to highlight the consequences of such changes.

Study Design: Lipid and lipoprotein levels and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk predictor index [High density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDLC)/Total cholesterol (TC)] were evaluated in 27 African pregnant and 17 non-pregnant women of the same age and demographic profiles.

Results: Total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDLC) levels increased, while HDLC level and HDLC/TC ratio decreased in the pregnant women.

Influence of baseline values. II: Variations in plasma lipoprotein fractions during doxazosin treatment for hypertension.

Forty-two Nigerian hypertensive men and women aged 40 to 60 years treated with doxazosin for 12 consecutive months were studied. Before the doxazosin therapy, all the patients had their baseline lipoprotein fractions determined and that was used to classify the patients into 'low', 'medium' and 'high' baseline values. The assays were repeated 4 times at every 3 months during the 12-month treatment with doxazosin.

Influence of baseline values. I: Effects on plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels during doxazosin treatment for hypertension.

Forty-six African patients with essential hypertension aged 40 to 65 years had plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels determined at four different periods during a 12-month treatment with doxazosin. The patients were classified according to their pretreatment (baseline) values into 'low', 'medium' and 'high' baseline value groups. The mean total cholesterol levels significantly decreased in the three baseline groups while mean triglyceride levels reduced only in the patients that belonged to the medium and high baseline value groups.

Influence of baseline values on lipids and lipoprotein changes during amlodipine treatment of hypertension.

Twenty adult hypertensive patients classified as having 'low', 'medium' and 'high' baseline values, underwent plasma lipids and lipoproteins assessment after 12 weeks treatment with amlodipine. For the patients with low baseline values, the mean triglycerides and very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels increased after amlodipine therapy. No significant variation was observed in the mean values of the lipids and lipoproteins before and after amlodipine therapy for the patients with 'medium baseline values', while in patients with 'high baseline values', mean low density lipoprotein-cholesterol decreased after amlodipine therapy.