Interactions Between Toxic Metals and Serum Micronutrient Level in Auto-mechanics in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria: a Pilot study.

Auto-mechanics who often work without safety measures are vulnerable to the harmful effects of toxic metals like lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd). These toxic metals exert their deleterious effect by interacting with the micronutrients at their primary site of action. This study aimed to investigate the effects of toxic metal exposure on serum micronutrient levels of auto-mechanics in Nigeria.

Increased cancer risk in HIV-infected individuals occupationally exposed to chemicals: Depression of p53 as the key driver.

The growing exposure to occupational chemicals and the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are major global health issues. However, there is little data on the carcinogenic risk profile of HIV-infected individuals who have been occupationally exposed to chemical mixtures. This study therefore investigated the levels of cancer risk biomarkers in HIV-infected individuals exposed to occupational chemicals, exploring the relationship between apoptotic regulatory and oxidative response markers as a measure of cancer risk.

A pragmatic approach to the diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism in developing countries.

Unlabelled: Inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) are a group of genetically derived diseases that are individually rare but collectively common and can be very severe. While high-income countries usually employ modern scientific technologies like tandem mass spectrometry for IEM investigation, these disorders are, in contrast, only rarely screened for in developing countries due to misconceptions that the required facilities are beyond the reach of these countries. This paper attempts to educate scientists and clinicians in developing countries on low-technology IEM screening methods that only require moderate facilities.

AACC Guidance Document on the Use of Point-of-Care Testing in Fertility and Reproduction.

Background: The AACC Academy revised the reproductive testing section of the Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines: Evidence-Based Practice for Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) published in 2007.

Methods: A panel of Academy members with expertise in POCT and laboratory medicine was formed to develop guidance for the use of POCT in reproductive health, specifically ovulation, pregnancy, premature rupture of membranes (PROM), and high-risk deliveries. The committee was supplemented with clinicians having Emergency Medicine and Obstetrics/Gynecology training.

Environmental Pollutants and Oxidative Stress in Terrestrial and Aquatic Organisms: Examination of the Total Picture and Implications for Human Health.

There is current great international concern about the contribution of environmental pollution to the global burden of disease particularly in the developing, low- and medium-income countries. Industrial activities, urbanization, developmental projects as well as various increased anthropogenic activities involving the improper generation, management and disposal of pollutants have rendered today's environment highly polluted with various pollutants. These pollutants include toxic metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, pesticides and diesel exhaust particles most of which appear to be ubiquitous as well as have long-term environmental persistence with a wide range of toxicities such as oxidative stress among others.

Blood lead levels, calcium metabolism and bone-turnover among automobile technicians in Sagamu, Nigeria: Implications for elevated risk of susceptibility to bone diseases.

Lead is an occupational toxicant and a recognised health threat particularly in developing countries. Hence, this study explored the interaction of blood lead level (BLL), a conventional marker of lead exposure, with indices of calcium metabolism and biomarkers of bone-turnover in 120 adult male automobile technicians (AT) with ≥ 1 year duration in professional practice. The AT as well as the control group, which comprised 120 age, body-size and socio-economically matched male administrative workers, were recruited from Sagamu, South West Nigeria.

A Proposed Concept Model for Cancer Risk in Nigerian Electronic Waste Exposure - A Brief Report.

This report aims to render a proposed concept model for cancer risk in Nigerian electronic waste exposure by making deductions from data on the assessment of Nigerians' exposure to toxic metals in e-waste, using biomarkers of exposure and genotoxicity to evaluate the risk of cancer development. In the cross-sectional study, 632 consenting participants, consisting of 381 e-waste workers (EW) and 120 environmental e-waste exposed participants (EEEP), age-matched with 131 unexposed participants (controls), were enrolled from Benin, Lagos and Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria. Levels of selected toxic metals in blood and essential metals in serum were determined using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry.

Lipid profile and Atherogenic Indices in Nigerians Occupationally Exposed to e-waste: A Cardiovascular Risk Assessment Study.

This study investigated the effects of e-waste occupational exposure on lipid profile and atherogenic indices in Waste Electrical and Electronic Workers in South-South Nigeria. Whole blood levels of lead and cadmium were analyzed using ICPMS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry). Total serum cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides (TG) were determined using spectrophotometric method.

A Common Insecticide Induced-Oxidative Stress in Wistar Rats: Significance for Humans and Implications for Nutritional Modulation of Insecticide Toxicity.

Objective: This study examined the levels of selected micronutrients and associated biochemical changes in rats exposed to Baygon® insecticide. Arsenic is a toxic metalloid commonly used in insecticides manufacture but unheralded.

Methods: Fifteen rats, divided into three equal groups: Group I (control); group II (administered 2.

Positive and inverse correlation of blood lead level with erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase and intelligence quotient in children: implications for neurotoxicity.

Blood lead level (BLL) is insufficiently sensitive for early detection of Lead-induced neurotoxicity (LIN). This study determined the possible role of the combination of BLL, intelligent quotient (IQ) and erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the early detection of LIN in Children. Apparently healthy children (n=309) from eight public primary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria were recruited and classified into: children with Elevated BLL (EBLL) and children with Acceptable BLL (control) based on CDC cut-off for childhood lead exposure.

Pituitary, Gonadal, Thyroid Hormones and Endocrine Disruptors in Pre and Postmenopausal Nigerian Women with ER-, PR- and HER-2-Positive and Negative Breast Cancers.

Breast cancer is broadly sub-divided into hormone responsive and non-hormone responsive subtypes. Estradiol has been associated with hormone responsive breast cancers. There is, however, a paucity of information on the role of sex hormones, gonadotropins, and thyroid hormone in non-hormone responsive breast cancer.

Relationship between selected micronutrient deficiencies and oxidative stress biomarkers in diabetes mellitus patients with foot ulcers in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Background/aim: Micronutrients are indispensable in the prevention of diseases and maintenance of good health. Their deficiencies have been implicated in several diseases associated with oxidative stress (OS). This study aimed at investigating the levels of some vitamins and minerals in association with OS markers in diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) patients in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

Cadmium Level, Glycemic Control, and Indices of Renal Function in Treated Type II Diabetics: Implications for Polluted Environments.

Cadmium (Cd) has recently emerged as a major concern not only in environmental toxicology but also in metabolic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and its complications. Conflicting data aside, these studies have not been examined in a clinical population undergoing management as well as possible modulation by the prominent metabolic antagonist of Cd such as zinc (Zn). This study examined the relationship between cadmium levels, glycemic control, and renal pathology in established type II diabetic patients with focus on populations exposed to modern environmental health hazards (MEHHs).

Cadmium level in pregnancy, influence on neonatal birth weight and possible amelioration by some essential trace elements.

Cadmium (Cd) is currently of great concern in rapidly industrializing countries-India, China. Their products consumed especially due to increase demand in many developing countries like Nigeria can result in adverse effects. Cd is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant and toxicant and humans are continually exposed to the toxic effects of Cd primarily through food as well as from environmental pollution through industrial activities.

Haemoglobinuria among children with severe malaria attending tertiary care in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Background: Haemoglobinuria is one of the manifestations of severe malaria and results from severe intravascular haemolysis. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency has been implicated in its aetiology. Haemoglobinuria may be associated with severe anaemia and, less frequently, acute renal failure.

Rising environmental cadmium levels in developing countries: threat to genome stability and health.

Cadmium (Cd) is a ubiquitous environmental pollutant of increasing worldwide concern. It is thought to be of greater concern to rapidly industrializing developing countries because of the increasing pace of industrial activities in these countries with increasing consumption and release into the environment. Traditionally, health concerns in exposed human populations have revolved around the association of Cd with bone disease, emphysema and possibly hypertension.

Altered copper level and renal dysfunction in Nigerian women using skin-whitening agents.

The purpose of the study was to determine the concentration of trace elements in serum samples of women who are chronic users of skin-whitening agents as well as the hepatic and renal effects of these agents on these women. The study was conducted among 23 skin-whitening users while 25 women served as the controls. The serum concentrations of Zn, Mn, and Mg were not significantly changed in these women compared with controls (p > 0.

Total antioxidants status and some hematological values in sickle cell disease patients in steady state.

Congenital hemoglobin mutations may alter the delicate balance of free-radical generation and antioxidant defense systems in the red cell. Oxidative stress may thus play a role in the pathophysiology of the clinical manifestations of the disease. We assessed the total antioxidant status in steady-state sickle cell anemia (SCA) patients and related it to certain hematological parameters and their recent clinical history.

Arsenic exposure and its health effects and risk of cancer in developing countries: micronutrients as host defence.

Arsenic (As) is a ubiquitous metalloid found in several forms in food and the environment, such as the soil, air and water. The predominant form is inorganic arsenic in drinking water, which is both highly toxic and carcinogenic and rapidly bioavailable. As is currently one of the most important environmental global contaminants and toxicants, particularly in the developing countries.

Cadmium toxicity: a possible cause of male infertility in Nigeria.

Serum and seminal plasma cadmium (Cd) concentrations were estimated by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in 60 infertile adult male Nigerians (40 oligozoospermics and 20 azoospermics). The results were compared with Cd level in 40 normozoospermic subjects (matched age, with proven evidence of fertility). The relationship between Cd levels and spermatograms or the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) -axis was investigated by correlating serum and seminal plasma Cd levels with semen characteristics and hormone levels.

Biochemical observations in Blount's disease (infantile tibia vara).

Blount's disease or congenital tibia vara is a clinical entity characterized by tibia bowing, tibia torsion, and beaking of the medial tibia metaphysis on plain radiograph. In our environment, burnt-out rickets patients with biochemical and radiological diagnosis of rickets who after treatment still have residual bone changes despite normal bone biochemistry) can also present with similar clinical and radiological features as Blount's disease. However, certain biochemical variations, including antioxidants, may serve as a basis for differentiation between these two disorders.