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Background: Blood group antigens have been used to evaluate ethnic diversity of human populations and had been related to predisposing individuals to some diseases or may protect individuals against some diseases. They also play the most important role in success of pregnancy and blood transfusion.Aim: The aim is to determine the frequencies of some blood group antigens phenotype among pregnant women.Materials and Methods: The study is a cross sectional study conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, antenatal clinic in Usmanu Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital Sokoto, from January 2020 to September 2020. This research included 1250 consecutively -recruited pregnant women on their first antenatal visit. The blood grouping were determined using standard tube techniques for ABO, MNSs, Duffy and Kidd antigens while column agglutination card was used for Rh C, E, c, e and Kell was utilized.Results:The sociodemographic characteristics revealed that the age range of the subject was 17-48 years .where majority were within the age between 21-30 years (61.3%).Majority of the pregnant women had their first antenatal visit during second trimester of their pregnancy (59.7%). The distribution of the ABO blood group revealed that 48.5% were group O, 27.3% were group B, 19.4% were group A and 4.8% were group AB. Out the subjects investigated, 93.1%, 30.2%, 24.6% and 90.2% were RhD, RhC, RhE, Rhc and Rhe positive respectively. The prevalence of M, S and s positive were 75.5%, 31.4% and 63.3% respectively. Among the subjects studied, 97.6% were Kell positive while 2.4% were kell negative. The prevalence of Duffy a and b antigen were 1.1% and 0.5% respectively and the prevalence of Kidd a and b phenotype positive were 15.9% and 21.7% respectively.Conclusion: The pattern of distribution of ABO, Rh, MSs, Duffy and Kidd blood groups antigens among pregnant women in Sokoto was in agreement with other populations while that of Kell blood group antigen is at variance with other population particularly among Caucasians. Data derived from this study will help policy makers make evidenced –based decisions on management of HDFN.
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ABO, Rhesus D and subgroups of ABO are highly immunogenic and are the common cause of antibody production in mismatched blood transfusions, haemolytic transfusion reaction and maternal alloimmunization. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of ABO, Rh D and subgroups of ABO among blood donors attending Specialist Hospital Sokoto, Nigeria. ABO, Rhesus D and subgroups of ABO antigen status of 176 blood donors with mean age of 30.44 � 8.210 years attending Specialist Hospital Sokoto were determined using tile method for ABO and Rh D and conventional tube method for anti- A1, anti- H reagents for ABO subgroups respectively. Among the 176 subjects tested, blood group O+ was the most frequent group with 93 (52.8%), 39 (22.2%) were blood group B+, 37(21.0%) were blood group A+, 5 (2.8%) were blood group AB+, 2 (1.1%) were blood group O-. No data was obtained for A-, B- and AB- blood groups. Out of 37 A blood groups obtained, 31 (83.8%) had A1 antigens and 6 (16.2%) had A2 antigens. Out of the 5 AB blood groups, all had A1B antigens. The study also shows that there was statistically significant difference between blood group A and ethnic groups (Hausa, Fulani and Yoruba) (p<0.05). Blood group O was found to be the most frequent followed by B, A and AB except among Hausa which revealed a pattern of O> A> B> AB. ABO, subgroups shows majority had A1 followed by A2 and A1B respectively.
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Sickle cell disease is a global public health problem. L-arginine is an amino acid that helps in improving blood in the arteries of the heart and improved symptoms of clogged arteries, chest pain or angina and coronary arteries disease. Nitric oxide is a powerful neurotransmitter that helps blood vessels relax and improve circulation. The l-arginine and nitric oxide levels of sickle cell disease (SCD) subjects with steady stages were also significantly low. The objective of this study was to evaluate L-arginine and Nitric oxide levels in children with sickle cell disease at steady state for 8 weeks. This study included children with a confirmed HbSS electrophoretic pattern aged 1-14 years presented to the sickle cell clinic unit of Federal Teaching Hospital Gombe. The L-arginine and nitric oxide levels were significantly higher post supplementation compared to baseline levels (p = 0.002 and 0.000 respectively). It is recommended that L-arginine supplementation be included in the management of patients with sickle cell disease. L-arginine supplement should be made available in the paediatric emergency unit, clinic and pharmacy department as given to patients with sickle cell disease to prevent the adverse effects during the crisis and potentially reduce the length of stay in the hospital.
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Aims: Alcoholism is a global public health problem with significant socioeconomic implications. The aim was to investigate the effect of alcoholism on the haematological and haemostatic parameters of consecutively recruited alcoholics in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State and North Western Nigeria. Study Design and Methodology: This prospective case-control study included one hundred adults alcoholics [≥18 years), aged range (18-60), mean age (38.46 ± 13.26) and made up of 68 males (68%) and 32 females (32%)]. Fifty gender and age matched non-alcoholics were monitored as controls. Ethical approval was obtained from the research and ethics committee in the Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, North Western Nigeria. Written informed consent was obtained from all study subjects after counselling. Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at the service laboratory in the Department of Haematology, Faculty of Medical Laboratory Science in Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto North Western Nigeria between May 2011 to February, 2012. Result: Participants for this study included 50 heavy alcoholics and 50 moderate alcoholics (subjects) and 50 age and gender –matched non-alcoholics (controls). Platelet count of non-alcoholics, moderate and heavy alcoholics was; 260.7 ± 48.17, 253.3 ± 43.16 and 130.6 ± 6.79 respectively. Platelet count was significantly lower among heavy alcoholics compared to non-alcoholics (p=0.0001). Although marginally higher, there was no statistically significant difference in the platelet count of moderate alcoholics and non-alcoholics (p=0.10). We observed a negative correlation between platelet count and duration of alcoholism (r=-0.62). The mean prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) values of non-alcoholics, moderate alcoholics and heavy alcoholics was; (14.46 ± 0.97 and 34.82 ± 13.71), (15.74 ± 1.26 and 35.78 ± 3.50) and (19.46 ± 0.93 and 43.42 ± 5.13) respectively. Prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time values were significantly lower among heavy alcoholics compared to non-alcoholics (p=0.0001). PT and APTT were marginally higher among moderate alcoholics compared to non-alcoholics but the difference however was not statistically significant (p= 0.08 and 0.62 respectively). We observed a positive correlation between duration of alcoholism and prolonged prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time (r = 0.46 and 0.55 respectively). Conclusion: Our study has shown that alcoholism produces a significant adverse effect on some haematological and haemostatic parameters. Evidenced data generated from this study can facilitate the development of a policy on the effective management of haematological and haemostatic complications associated with alcoholism. There is need to enact laws that regulate the production, sales and consumption of various alcoholic beverages to prevent abuse and protect the health of citizens.
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Background: Globally prostate cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related death in men. Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is present in small amount in the serum of men with healthy prostates, but is often elevated in the presence of prostate cancer and other prostate-related disorders. The aim of this present study was to determine the PSA levels among healthy men of African descent resident in Sokoto, North Western Nigeria. Methods: Testing was carried out using the CTK Biotech PSA kit (CTK Biotech Inc, San Diego, USA). The Onsite PSA Rapid Test is a lateral flow chromatographic immunoassay for the qualitative detection of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in human serum or plasma at a cut-off level of 4.0 ng/mL. Result: We investigated the PSA levels in 106 consecutively recruited men of African descent with age range and mean age of 40-70 years and 44.75 ± 7.91 years respectively. We observed a PSA of > 4ng/mL among 7 (6.6%) of subjects studied. Men > 60 had the highest prevalence of raised PSA level (33.3%) compared to those younger men (p= 0.001). We observed a higher prevalence among farmers (11.1%) compared to business men, civil servants and students. Conclusion: In this present study we observed a high prevalence of PSA >4ng/mL and a positive and significant correlation between age and raised PSA levels among men in Sokoto, North Western Nigeria. We recommend an annual PSA blood test for men ≥ 40 years of age and that those with a PSA value > 4.0 ng/mL should be considered for further evaluation. There is also the need to build capacity among biomedical and medical staff in Nigeria to facilitate effective diagnosis of prostate cancer. There is also the need for increased prostate cancer awareness in the area to facilitate voluntary testing.
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The study tend to uncover the epidemiological trend and association of HIV/AIDS with some immuno-hematological profile of infected subjects in Niger Delta. A total of 1000 subjects, made up of 464 males (46.4%) and 536 females (53.6%) were screened. HIV antibodies were detected using "Determine" (Abbott Laboratories, Japan), Start –Pak (Chembio Diagnostics, USA) and SD Bioline HIV-1/2 kits (Standard Diagnostics, Korea).Out of this number, 107(10.7%) were sero-positive. The PCV of HIV positive subjects ranged between 24.00 and 48.00% (32.94±0.53),HB ranged between 8.00 and 16.00g/dl (10.95± 0.18) while WBC counts ranged between 3.30 and 16.30 Mm3(7.76 ±0.30). However, CD4 counts ranged between 210.00 and 937.00μl, with a mean of 480.55 (±13.44). At P<0.01; the PCV correlated positively with HB(r=0.999) and negatively with WBC (r = -0.303), while HB correlated negatively with WBC(r=-0.306). Conversely, CD4 counts did not correlate with any of the parameters. The need for frequent monitoring of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the immunological profile of infected groups in Niger Delta is strongly encourage. This will prevent anemia and other hematological problems.
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BACKGROUND: There is paucity of data on the seroprevalence of HBV infection in children living in urban areas of the Niger Delta of Nigeria. The aim of this study is to determine the seroprevalence of hepatitis B surface antigenaemia among children presenting to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), to determine the trend in the seroprevalence of HBsAg over a five-year period and to correlate serological findings to clinical features. METHODS: Serum samples from 251 consecutively recruited children in UPTH aged =16 years were tested for Hepatitis B surface antigen using Clinotech HBsAg kits and confirmed using the Trinity Biotec enzyme linked immunosorbent assay based HBsAg kits. Medical records of the children were also obtained. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of HBsAg among children tested was 12.4%. HBsAg prevalence was highest in the 11-15 years age group (24.5%) and the lowest in the 6-10 years age group (11.0%). There was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of HB V positivity based on age groups (?2, = 8.47, p = 0.014). Prevalence rate was relatively higher among males (13.7%) compared to females (10.7%). There is a statistically significant trend in the decline of HBsAg prevalence 1999 to 2004 (?2, for trend = 11.38, p = 0.001). The predominant symptoms among children positive for HBsAg were hepatosplenomegaly (75%) and jaundice (64.5%). CONCLUSION: This study indicates a high prevalence of HBsAg among children presenting to a tertiary health facility in Port Harcourt
Subject(s)
Pediatrics , Urban PopulationABSTRACT
Since the early days of antiretroviral therapy; adherence has emerged a milestone to success. The objective of this study was to evaluate the factors militating against adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-infected individuals in the resource - limited setting of the Niger Delta of Nigeria. A structured interviewer- administered questionnaire from consecutively recruited 187 HIV-infected patients on combination antiretroviral therapy of two-nucleoside analogue; stavudine and lamivudine and one non-nucleoside (nevirapine) was used. Association between the independent variables and adherence were analyzed using chi square analysis. This study observed an adherence level of 49.2and identified the following as factors associated with nonadherence: cost of antiretrovirals; educational status; medication adverse effect; occupational factors; and high pill burden of prescribed regimen (p 0.05). There is an urgent need for universal access and sustainability of antiretroviral therapy particularly in resource - limited settings. There is need for supervised medication delivery. Efforts should be made towards simplifying the therapeutic regimen to reduce the pill burden and substitution with treatment combination and strategies that minimize negative adverse effects; coupled with the re-intensification of patient's education and counseling
Subject(s)
HIV Infections , Patient ComplianceABSTRACT
Background: Human immune deficiency virus (HIV) infection is endemic globally, more so in developing countries like Nigeria and is an important cause of mortality and morbidity. Objective: This study was undertaken to document the sero-prevalence of HIV infection among young adults (10 24 years). Method: HIV screening was performed on all (n = 673) young adults referred to the retrovirology unit of the Haematology Department of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital between January 2003 to December 2003 comprising of 205 males and 432 females were screened for HIV using a double ELISA confirmatory of Immunocomb and Genscreen HIV 1 & 2 kits. Result: A total of 637 young adults were screened for HIV. Two hundred and seventy-two (42.7%) were found positive to HIV. The highest infection burden occurred among the 20-24 years group 242 (50%) and lowest among the 10-14years group 4(12.1%). Infection rate was significantly higher among females 217 (50.2%), and in less educated adolescent with no formal education 56 (80%). History of alcoholism 262 (99.2%), drug use 146(60.6), number of sexual partners and age at first sexual debut were independent risk factors in adolescents for infection with HIV (P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study confirmed a high prevalence of HIV among adolescents and describes the groups more at risk as seen in other parts of Nigeria. This calls for urgent health education of the young adult population with emphasis on a combination of behavioural and social changes to curb the spread of HIV