Blood Pressure and Lipid Profile in Automechanics in Relation to Lead Exposure.

Context: Elevated blood pressure and alterations in lipid and lipoproteins play a major role in the development and progression of cardiovascular diseases.

Aim: This study is aimed at determining the blood pressure and lipid profile in automechanics.

Settings And Design: A total of 120 male subjects between 18 and 55 years of age comprised 60 automechanics and 60 age-matched occupationally unexposed control subjects in Emene, Enugu State, Nigeria.

EVALUATION OF MALE SEX HORMONES AND TRACE ELEMENTS IN MALE TYPE 2 DIABETIC PATIENTS ATTENDING NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL DIABETIC CLINICS.

Background: There is accumulating evidence that the metabolism of male sex hormones and several trace elements are altered in type 2 diabetic mellitus and may have specific role in the pathogenesis and progression of the disease.

Aim: To assess the levels of male sex hormones and trace elements in type 2 diabetic patients and to ascertain an association between male sex hormones and trace elements among diabetic subjects.

Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among 125 diabetic and 50 non diabetic subjects.

High prevalence of abdominal obesity increases the risk of the metabolic syndrome in Nigerian type 2 diabetes patients: using the International Diabetes Federation worldwide definition.

Background: Some Nigerian studies have reported cases of the metabolic syndrome in the population. This study aims to assess the prevalence of the components of the metabolic syndrome in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) worldwide definition.

Methods: Eighty-nine T2DM patients were studied after an overnight fast.

Is diabetes patients' knowledge of laboratory tests for monitoring blood glucose levels associated with better glycaemic control?

Aim: To determine if there is any difference in indices of glycaemic control between type-2 diabetes patients who knew the laboratory tests for monitoring blood glucose and their peers who did not know.

Methods: Eighty-nine type-2 diabetes patients were studied after an overnight fast. The patients' bio-data, blood pressure, anthropometric indices and baseline biochemical parameters and glycated haemoglobin A₁c (HbA₁c) were measured.

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.

Metabolic syndrome in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus using NCEP-ATP III, the Nnewi experience.

Background And Objectives: Type 2 diabetes is becoming epidemic and several studies have shown that diabetes is associated with increased co-morbidities and impaired functional health in the general adult population. Type 2 diabetes is one of the co-morbidities associated with metabolic syndrome that carries with it increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death. The purpose of this study is therefore to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus subjects seen at Nnewi South East Nigeria.

Immunodiagnosis of bovine trypanosomiasis in Anambra and Imo states, Nigeria, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay: zoonotic implications to human health.

Background & Objectives: The prevalence of trypanosomiasis was studied in cattle, being a major source of animal protein in Nigeria, thus, a very likely means of spread of Human African Trypanosomosis (HAT).

Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to diagnose bovine trypanosomiasis in 264 samples collected from adult cattle of mixed breeds, age and sex, in Anambra and Imo states, Nigeria.

Results: Out of 264 samples analysed, 21 (7.

Iodine status and the effect of soil erosion on trace elements in Nanka and Oba towns of Anambra State, Nigeria.

Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) is common in all populations. Iodine and other trace elements naturally occur in the soil but erosion leaches off these elements from the soil. This results in a continued loss of trace elements from the soil.

Liver and renal function tests in artisans occupationally exposed to lead in mechanic village in Nnewi, Nigeria.

Additives in petroleum solvents have been reported to have adverse health implications. An evaluation study on some toxicological effects of occupational exposure to petroleum products (especially petrol which contains tetraethyl lead) amongst twenty five occupationally exposed artisans and twenty five graduate students of College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi, Nigeria as controls, was carried out using the following biochemical markers: electrolytes, urea, uric acid, inorganic phosphorus, creatinine, zinc and blood lead, as well as the activities of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases, and alkaline phosphatase. The results showed that occupational exposure of human subjects to lead in petrol increases the concentrations of uric acid (357 +/- 123micro mol/L) and phosphate (1.

Impact of effluents from a car battery manufacturing plant in Nigeria on water, soil, and food qualities.

The authors investigated the impact of effluents from a car battery manufacturing plant in Nnewi, Nigeria, on water, soil, and food qualities. The authors analyzed heavy metals mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and nickel in tap and cassava waters, soil, dried cassava tuber, and edible fruit samples from the company, using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Other parameters the authors analyzed include pH, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity (SAL), total hardness (TH), biological oxygen demand (BOD), volatile and non-volatile solids, and bacterial and fungal loads of the soil samples.

Prevalence of asymptomatic malaria parasitaemia amongst pregnant women.

Two hundred and forty-six apparently healthy pregnant women aged 19-40 years, without symptoms were recruited (147 recruited during the dry season and 99 recruited during the rainy season) for the present study. Blood examinations for malaria parasites, Plasmodium falciparum specific-IgG concentration and serological reactivity with P. falciparum-histidine rich protein-2 (HRP-2) antigens were conducted on all the pregnant women during the dry and rainy seasons of the year.

Effects of high doses of magnesium in drinking water and voluntary wheel running on magnesium and calcium concentrations in rats.

The effect of high magnesium intake in addition to supplementation and voluntary wheel activity on magnesium and calcium homeostasis was investigated in rats. Thirty-six 5-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into four groups (n = 9). Groups 2 and 4 received five hundred ppm of elemental magnesium as MgCl2 provided in drinking water.

Nephrotoxic actions of low-dose mercury in mice: protection by zinc.

The authors conducted this study to determine if very-low-dose (i.e., 4 ppm) mercury is nephrotoxic and, if so, whether the nephrotoxic actions of mercury in mice could be prevented by zinc intake.

Effects of rinbacin extract on rat kidney.

The aqueous leaf extract of rinbacin was tested for toxic effects on prepubertal rat kidneys following chronic administration. Two doses of rinbacin extract (26.25 g/l and 52.

Testicular toxicity of rinbacin in rats.

Rinbacin is a local Nigerian herbal remedy. The effects of rinbacin on testicular histology were studied in prepubertal rats. Sexually immature male rats, divided into seven per group, were given rinbacin in drinking waters at 0, 26.

Low-dose mercury induces testicular damage protected by zinc in mice.

Objectives: This investigation was set out to determine whether mercury at a very low dose (4ppm) induces testicular damage on murine testis, and if so whether the toxic effects of mercury could be prevented by zinc.

Study Design: One of the following solutions was administered in the drinking water of CD-1 male mice: (1) 4ppm HgCl(2); (2) 800ppm ZnCl(2); (3) 4ppm HgCl(2)+800ppm ZnCl(2); or (4) deionised water; for 12 weeks. At the expiration of the treatment period, animals were sacrificed, testes excised and weighed, and epididymal sperm number taken.

Hypoglycaemic shock: normal or abnormal response to injury?

We report a case of hypoglycaemic shock which occurred in a patient 18 h after injury. The patient was involved in a road traffic accident and sustained multiple rib fractures and bruising in the (R) lumbar region. Eleven hours after his last meal he developed sudden weakness, profuse sweating, air hunger, thirst, disorientation and suddenly lapsed into coma 18 h after admission.

Serum cholesterol level in a typical suburban commercial community in Nigeria.

Forty-one apparently healthy businessmen and -women and an equal number of government workers matched for age and sex underwent serum cholesterol determinations. The mean serum cholesterol levels of businessmen and -women were significantly higher than those of their government worker counterparts (p < 0.001).

Some pharmacological properties of Synclisia scabrida II.

The effect of the aqueous extract of S. scabrida on behaviour, and as an analgesic and antiulcer agent were studied. The extracts did not produce significant central nervous system action, or analgesia but had significant antiulcer activity against aspirin induced ulcer.

Cholesterol concentrations in diabetic patients in Nnewi, Nigeria.

Twenty out-patient and twenty in-patient adult Nigerian type II diabetics and twenty healthy subjects matched for sex, age and weight, were studied at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria. Mean total cholesterol and fasting blood glucose concentrations were higher in the diabetics. The out-patients had significantly higher total cholesterol and fasting blood glucose values than their in-patient counterparts.

Effect of activated charcoal on rifampicin absorption in man.

The effect of activated charcoal (AC) on rifampicin excretion was investigated in six healthy volunteers. On three occasions, at weekly intervals, each subject received a 600 mg rifampicin with 350 ml of water; b+c one and two weeks later, 600 mg of rifampicin plus 7.5 and 15 g AC, respectively, in 350 ml of water as a charcoal slurry.

Observation on the value of erythrocyte membrane fatty acids in the discrimination of hypothyroidism.

A computer-based 3-dimensional representation of two erythrocyte membrane saturated fatty acids (hexadecanoic acid, 16:0 and octadecanoic acid, 18:0), serum cholesterol and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was performed in 26 hypothyroid patients and in 10 control subjects. The result indicates that a three-dimensional representation of grouped data discriminates normal people from individuals with hypothyroidism in a small population of highly selected cases.

Carbon black (N220): a possible role in poison management.

The adsorptive capacities of locally produced carbon black (N220) and activated charcoal in the management of poisoning due to some locally used drugs were investigated. Adsorption of metronidazole and tinidazole to carbon black (CB) and activated charcoal (AC) was completed within 30 min of incubation and was found to be dependent on the quantities used CB-B50 for metronidazole and tinidazole were 132.7 and 112.

Charcoal and Rifampicin Pharmacokinetics.

We investigated the effect of activated charcoal on rifampicin disposition in six healthy subjects. On three occasions (control, phases II and III, separated by 1 week), each subject received 600 mg of rifampicin with 350 ml of water. On the second and third occasions (phases II and III), each subject received in addition to 600 mg of rifampicin and 7.