Tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP-2) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein 7 (IGFBP7) best predicts the development of acute kidney injury.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is routinely diagnosed by creatinine-based guidelines, which is sub-optimal marker after injury due to renal and non-renal factors. This has necessitated the need for more specific and sensitive biomarkers for early detection of AKI in at risk patients. This prospective cross-sectional study used the biomarkers of cell cycle arrest and Neutrophil Gelatinase Associated Lipocalin (NGAL) to assess AKI among hospitalized patients.

Fasting plasma glucose and lipid profiles of diabetic patients improve with aerobic exercise training.

Objective: This study presents the effects of aerobic exercise training on fasting plasma glucose and lipid profiles (FPG/LP) of diabetic patients in Kumasi.

Design: A randomised experimental with control design.

Setting: The study was conducted at the diabetic unit of KATH in Kumasi, Ghana.

Elevated adiponectin but varied response in circulating leptin levels to falciparum malaria in type 2 diabetics and non-diabetic controls.

Background: To investigate effects of falciparum malaria on circulating levels of leptin and adiponectin in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and non-diabetic controls in relation to measures of adiposity.

Methods: Levels of leptin and adiponectin were measured in 100 type 2 diabetics and 100 age-matched controls before and during falciparum malaria in a 2-year prospective study. Also, waist circumference (WC), weight, height and hip circumference were measured.

Variation in APOL1 Contributes to Ancestry-Level Differences in HDLc-Kidney Function Association.

Low levels of high-density cholesterol (HDLc) accompany chronic kidney disease, but the association between HDLc and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in the general population is unclear. We investigated the HDLc-eGFR association in nondiabetic Han Chinese (HC, n = 1100), West Africans (WA, n = 1497), and African Americans (AA, n = 1539). There were significant differences by ancestry: HDLc was positively associated with eGFR in HC (β = 0.

C-reactive protein (CRP) promoter polymorphisms influence circulating CRP levels in a genome-wide association study of African Americans.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is an acute phase reactant protein produced primarily by the liver. Circulating CRP levels are influenced by genetic and non-genetic factors, including infection and obesity. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide an unbiased approach towards identifying loci influencing CRP levels.

Survival pattern of hemodialysis patients in Kumasi, Ghana: a summary of forty patients initiated on hemodialysis at a new hemodialysis unit.

To evaluate the survival pattern of hemodialysis patients at a dialysis unit in Kumasi, Ghana, through a retrospective (observational) study. Patients who were placed on hemodialysis at the dialysis unit at Komfo Anokye teaching hospital from October 25, 2006 to December 2007. The patients were followed from initiation of dialysis until December 31, 2007.

Polymorphism of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene is associated with diabetic retinopathy in a cohort of West Africans.

Purpose: In addition to chronic hyperglycemia, there is increasing evidence that genetic factors may be important in the development of diabetes retinopathy (DR). Specifically, polymorphisms of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene (eNOS) have been reported to be associated with multiple health conditions including DR, hypertension, nephropathy, and cardiovascular diseases in several ethnic groups. However, there is a paucity of similar data in African Americans and other African populations.

Prevalence and predictors of microalbuminuria in patients with diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional observational study in Kumasi, Ghana.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and predictors of microalbuminuria in diabetics in Kumasi, Ghana.

Design: Prospective, cross-sectional study of diabetic patients.

Subjects: Patients with diabetes, 20 to 78 years of age.

Genome-wide search for susceptibility genes to type 2 diabetes in West Africans: potential role of C-peptide.

C-peptide is a substance that the pancreas releases into the circulation in equimolar amounts to insulin and has demonstrated important physiological effects which relate to the vascular field, in particular the microcirculation. For this analysis, we included 321 full and 36 half sibling pairs affected with type 2 diabetes (T2D) from West Africa. A genome-wide panel of 390 tri-nucleotide and tetra-nucleotide repeats with an average distance of 8.

A genome-wide search for linkage to renal function phenotypes in West Africans with type 2 diabetes.

Background: Reduced renal function often is a major consequence of diabetes and hypertension. Although several indices of renal function (eg, creatinine clearance) are clearly heritable and show linkage to several genomic regions, the specific underlying genetic determinants are still being sought. The purpose of this study is to conduct a genome-wide search for regions linked to 3 renal function phenotypes, serum creatinine, creatinine clearance, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR), in persons with type 2 diabetes.

Genomewide scan and fine mapping of quantitative trait loci for intraocular pressure on 5q and 14q in West Africans.

Purpose: High intraocular pressure (IOP) is a major risk factor for glaucoma, one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. Because it has been demonstrated that African populations are at increased risk for glaucoma, the authors investigated the genetic basis of IOP in a sample of West Africans with type 2 diabetes (T2D) from Ghana and Nigeria.

Methods: Genomewide linkage analysis was conducted for loci linked to IOP (measured by applanation tonometry) in 244 affected sibling pairs with T2D using 372 autosomal short-tandem repeat markers at an average spacing of 9 cM.

A genome wide quantitative trait linkage analysis for serum lipids in type 2 diabetes in an African population.

Lipid abnormalities are strongly linked with coronary heart disease and are common in type 2 diabetes. However, little is known about the genetic determinants of serum lipids in African populations. An autosomal genome scan was performed for linkage to five plasma lipid phenotypes (total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) and VLDL-cholesterol (VLDL-C)) in the Africa-America Diabetes Mellitus (AADM) study.

Calpain-10 gene polymorphisms and type 2 diabetes in West Africans: the Africa America Diabetes Mellitus (AADM) Study.

Purpose: To investigate whether the three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), SNP-43, -56, and -63 of CAPN10 were associated with type 2 diabetes in a West African cohort.

Methods: A total of 347 diabetic subjects and 148 unaffected controls from four ethnic groups in two West African countries were enrolled in this study. After genotyping three SNPs of CAPN10 and one SNP from CYP19, the allele, genotype, and haplotype frequencies as well as the odds ratios were calculated to test their association with type 2 diabetes.

A genome-wide search for type 2 diabetes susceptibility genes in West Africans: the Africa America Diabetes Mellitus (AADM) Study.

The incidence of type 2 diabetes is growing rapidly, not only in developed countries but also worldwide. We chose to study type 2 diabetes in West Africa, where diabetes is less common than in the U.S.

Dyslipidemia in outpatients at General Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana: cross-sectional study.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of dyslipidemia among hospital patients in Kumasi, Ghana, whose diet consists mostly of carbohydrates and little proteins, and assess the effect of age, sex, and the presence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus on serum cholesterol concentration.

Methods: The hospital-based study included 248 patients (145 women and 103 men) selected by strict random sampling from patients visiting Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital between May 1, 1999, and April 30, 2000. The patients were divided into four groups: patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, both conditions, and without either disease.

Prevalence and determinants of diabetic retinopathy and cataracts in West African type 2 diabetes patients.

Objective: To quantify the prevalence of, and risk factors for, diabetic retinopathy and cataracts in patients with type 2 diabetes, and their spouse controls, enrolled from 5 centers in 2 West African countries (Ghana and Nigeria).

Method: The analysis cohort was made up of 840 subjects with type 2 diabetes, and their 191 unaffected spouse controls, who were enrolled and examined in Lagos, Enugu, and Ibadan, in Nigeria, and in Accra and Kumasi, in Ghana. A diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy was made only where a participant had a minimum of one microaneurysm in any field, as well as exhibiting hemorrhages (dot, blot, or flame shaped), and maculopathy (with or without clinically significant edema).