Acute phase proteins in pregnant women with urinary schistosomiasis in Ilie Village, Osun State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Background: The acute phase proteins (APPs) are plasma proteins whose concentration rise or reduce in reaction to infection, inflammation or trauma (Baumann and Gauldie, 1990). The circulating concentration of these proteins are related to the severity of the underlying condition, thus quantification of their concentrations provide a ready means of giving valuable clinical information and extent of the disease processes (Thompson et. al., 1992). Materials and Methods: Serum levels of three acute phase proteins (transferrin, á2-macroglobulin and haptoglobin) were determined using single radial immuno-diffusion technique in one hundred and eight Nigerian women aged between 15 and 30 years. They were made up of thirty pregnant women with urinary schistosomiasis (P+USS), thirty-six pregnant women without USS (P-USS), eighteen non-pregnant women with USS (NP+USS), and twenty-four healthy non-pregnant women without USS (NP-USS) as controls. Results: The result shows that transferrin was least in P-USS group and highest in NP+USS. The highest mean value of alpha-2 macroglobulin was found in P+USS group and the least in NP+USS. Haptoglobin was significantly reduced in P+USS compared with other groups. Conclusions: The finding of this study suggests an independent effect of USS and pregnancy on serum levels of APPs, therefore APPs could be used to distinguish P+USS from P-USS