ONT sequencing identifies a high prevalence of sensitive, triple mutant and single mutant parasites within an ANC population in Nigeria.

Background: Malaria in pregnancy is a major public health issue, particularly among vulnerable populations in malaria-endemic sub-Saharan African countries. To mitigate its risks, WHO recommends sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) for chemoprevention and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) to treat uncomplicated malaria. These interventions have helped to alleviate the risk associated with malaria in pregnancy; however, in the context of the emergence of SP- and ACT-resistant , maintained efficacy is under threat.

Efficacy and safety of nitazoxanide plus atazanavir/ritonavir for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19 (NACOVID): A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy and safety of repurposed antiprotozoal and antiretroviral drugs, nitazoxanide and atazanavir/ritonavir, in shortening the time to clinical improvement and achievement of SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) negativity in patients diagnosed with moderate to severe COVID-19.

Trial Design: This is a pilot phase 2, multicentre 2-arm (1:1 ratio) open-label randomised controlled trial.

Participants: Patients with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis (defined as SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive nasopharyngeal swab) will be recruited from four participating isolation and treatment centres in Nigeria: two secondary care facilities (Infectious Diseases Hospital, Olodo, Ibadan, Oyo State and Specialist State Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo, Osun State) and two tertiary care facilities (Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Osun State and Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Ogun State).

Controlled Covalent Conjugation of a Tuberculosis Subunit Antigen (ID93) to Liposome Improved Th1-Type Cytokine Recall Responses in Human Whole Blood.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a foremost poverty-related disease with a high rate of mortality despite global immunization with Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG). Several adjuvanted recombinant proteins are in clinical development for TB to protect against the disease in infants and adults. Nevertheless, simple mixing of adjuvants with antigens may not be optimal for enhancing the immune response due to poor association.

Breast Cancer and Tamoxifen: A Nigerian Perspective to Effective Personalised Therapy.

Estrogen-receptor positivity in tumour, often requiring long-term tamoxifen therapy, is thought to characterise between 43% and 65% of breast cancer cases in Nigeria. The patient population is further marked by late-stage diagnosis which significantly heightens the tendency for tumour relapse in the course of tamoxifen therapy. Despite tamoxifen being considered a reliable chemopreventive in high-risk individuals and an effective adjuvant therapy for hormone-sensitive tumours, mortality has remained high among breast cancer patients in the West African region where Nigeria belongs.

Influence of selected polymorphisms in disposition genes on lumefantrine pharmacokinetics when coadministered with efavirenz.

Background: Coadministration of artemether-lumefantrine and efavirenz has been shown to result in significant interactions. The influence of functional genetic polymorphisms in selected CYPs on the magnitude of this interaction was investigated in pregnant and nonpregnant adults.

Method: A standard 3-day regimen of artemether-lumefantrine was administered to each patient on steady-state efavirenz-based antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Population Pharmacokinetics of Imatinib in Nigerians With Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Clinical Implications for Dosing and Resistance.

Imatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is the drug of choice for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia in Nigeria. Several studies have established interindividual and interpopulation variations in imatinib disposition although no pharmacokinetic study have been conducted in an African population since the introduction of the drug. This study explored a population pharmacokinetic approach to investigate the disposition of imatinib in Nigerians and examined the involvement of some covariates including genetic factors in the variability of the drug disposition with a view to optimize the use of the drug in this population.

Polymorphisms in CYP2C8 and CYP3A5 genes in the Nigerian population.

Polymorphisms in CYP2C8 and CYP3A5 genes have implications for responses elicited by the ingestion of some xenobiotics, the metabolism of which are mediated by these enzymes. CYP2C8*2, CYP2C8*3, CYP3A5*3, CYP3A5*6 and CYP3A5*7 are a few functionally-relevant variants of these genes which this study provides data for, in the Nigerian population. Blood samples were processed for genomic DNA from 178 unrelated subjects spread across Nigerian ethnicities and screened for these polymorphism through the Sequenom iPLEX MassARRAY platform.

Distribution of xanthine oxidase activity in a Nigerian population.

Background: Xanthine oxidase (XO) is one of the two interconvertible forms of xanthine oxidoreductase and well-studied for its role in purine catabolism and that of other purine analogues, drugs especially. Our study investigated the incidence of polymorphism in phenotypes along with the influence of gender and age on enzyme activity in a Nigerian population.

Methods: Caffeine (110 mg) was administered to each of 129 healthy, unrelated subjects who were nonsmokers.