Diagnostic Value of Procalcitonin in Neonatal Sepsis

Introduction: Neonatal sepsis is a major cause of mortality in developing countries. Accurate and quick diagnosis are difficult because clinical presentation are non-specific; bacterial cultures are time-consuming and other laboratory tests lack sensitivity and specificity. Serum procalcitonin (PCT) has been proposed as an early marker of infections in neonates. Objectives: This study investigated the value of PCT in the diagnosis of Neonatal Sepsis.Methods: Neonates undergoing sepsis evaluation at the Special Baby Care Unit; Federal Medical Centre; Abeokuta; Nigeria between January and April 2013 were included. Blood samples were obtained for white cell count; blood cultures; serum CRP and PCT analysis. Neonates were categorised into Proven Sepsis; Suspected Sepsis and Clinical Sepsis groups on the basis of laboratory findings and risk factors. A control group with no clinical and biological data of infection was also included. Predictive values and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of PCT were evaluated.Result: Of the 85 neonates; 19 (22.4%) had positive blood culture. PCT level was significantly higher in neonates in all sepsis groups in comparison with those in the control group (P 0.05). At a cut-off of 0.5 ng/ml; the negative predictive value (NPV) of PCT was 80% and the positive predictive value (PPV) 39%. There were no significant statistical difference between the AUC values of PCT in Early onset and Late onset sepsis; as well between AUC in Preterm and term cases. A higher percentage of neonates who died (96%) had elevated PCT levels compared to those who survived (46%).Conclusion: These findings support the usefulness of the PCT in diagnosis of Neonatal sepsis

Antioxidant Levels of Acute Leukaemia Patients in Nigeria

The incorporation of nutritional screening and comprehensive assessments of oxidative stress is increasingly recognised as imperative in the development of standards for quality care in oncology. This study evaluated the levels of nitric oxide (NO); some essential trace metals (Zn; Cu; Fe; and Se); superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) in twenty five (25) patients with acute leukaemia and 25 apparently healthy controls. The mean levels of plasma Zinc (Zn); Iron (Fe) and Selenium (Se) were not significantly elevated (p 0.05) in leukaemia patients compared with controls. Also; slightly lower level of plasma Cu was observed in leukaemia patients compared with the controls. However; nitric oxide was significantly increased (p 0.05) in leukaemia patients compared with controls. The implication of the present finding is that intervention to increase antioxidant status in patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) should be considered

The Use of Rap-Pcr in Studying Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Intracellular Gene During Macrophage Infection

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the second leading cause of death from infectious agent. This study sought to detect M. tuberculosis genes; which were specifically expressed; or upregulated during intracellular infection of J774 murine macrophages; as such genes may be potential targets for novel drug action. J774 murine macrophage cell line was infected with M. tuberculosis (H37Rv strain) at 10:1 multiplicity of infection (MOI). RNA was differentially extracted from M. tuberculosis infecting J774 macrophage cell line. The control in this case was RNA from extracellular broth grown bacteria. Approximately 50 ng of RNA from intracellular derived bacteria and extracellular derived bacteria (control) were subjected to random arbitrarily primed PCR (RAP-PCR) using 50 primer combinations. Eleven differential RAP-PCR products were observed. All RAP-PCR products were cloned into pCRr2.1 and sequenced in order to determine the identity of the products. Four of the eleven products were derived from macrophage genes and another 4 products were derived from the M. tuberculosis rRNA genes (three 23S and one 16S rRNA). The 3 remaining RAP-PCR products were found to be mycobacterial genes other than ribosomal genes. The three products were genes encoding enzyme involving in a shikimate pathway; a putative carboxyphosphonoenolpyruvate phosphonomutase and a serine protease with homology to HtrA. Of the 3 mycobacterial genes other than ribosomal genes detected; none were specifically expressed during intracellular infection but bacilli