Heavy metal hazards of Nigerian herbal remedies.

The uses of herbal products are not regulated in Nigeria and in many low-income countries and are freely available to everyone. The safety of these herbal medicines is poorly understood. This study characterizes the content of cadmium, copper, iron, nickel, selenium, zinc, lead and mercury in a random sample of Nigerian traditional products. Ready-to-use herbal products were purchased from the open market and digested using HNO3.The heavy metal content of the digested filtrate was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry Uni-cam Model 929. The result showed that 100% of the samples contained elevated amounts of heavy metals. These data alert us to the possibility of heavy metal toxicity from herbal products in Nigeria. The public health hazards from ingestion of herbal medicines should be identified and disclosed by in-depth risk assessment studies.

Even-n-alkane/alkene predominances in surface sediments from the Calabar River, SE Niger Delta, Nigeria.

We report the geochemical characterisation of hydrocarbons extracted from surface sediments of the Calabar River and coastal soils, SE Niger Delta, Nigeria using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). As a result, a special group of organic compounds prevalent in the entire study area was identified. It consists of aliphatic hydrocarbons (7.3-22.2% of the total lipids) with several distinctive chemical features. These include a high abundance of even numbered n-alkanes (n-C(12)-n-C(26), maximising at n-C(18), n-C(20) and n-C(22)), n-alk-1-enes (n-C(14:1)-n-C(26:1), maximising at n-C(18:1) and n-C(20:1)), giving rise to Carbon Preference Indices (CPIs) between 0.15 and 0.82. An unresolved complex mixture (UCM) occurring in the range n-C(18)-n-C(35), and the presence of hopanes indicate petroleum contamination. The predominance of even numbered n-alkanes in the Calabar River sediments are thought to be derived from inputs of different microorganisms inhabiting an oil-polluted environment and contributing to the organic matter (OM). This paper, for the first time, gives an account of the unusual predominance of even numbered n-alkanes/alkenes in surface sediments from the Niger Delta of Nigeria and thus contributes to the information on the rare occurrence of such distributions in the geosphere.

Prevalence Of Rh And ABO Blood Groups In HIV Seropositive Pregnant Women In Enugu; Nigeria

HIV status and blood groups determination (Rhesus and ABO groups) in 3691 pregnant women attending antenatal clinic at a Mission Hospital and Maternity and 1199 non-pregnant women visiting the same institution for marriage-related matters; or blood donation; or out-patient department between 1999 - 2002 were studied. Blood sample from each subject was screened for HIV using the quick test kits and tested for blood group types with anti-sera A; B; AB; and D. Overall; the prevalence of blood group O+ was higher than in the general population with highest rate of 62.9 in HIV+ pregnant women followed by 58.4 in HIV- pregnant women and 58.0 in non-pregnant women. No difference was observed in groups A+; B+; AB+; O- for the three categories of subjects studied. Blood groups B-; AB- were conspicuously absent in HIV+ pregnant women but non-significant in HIV- pregnant women and the control. A- was very few in all the categories. Rh -ve accounted for 3.16 (HIV+); 3.46(HIV-) and 2.67 (Control) while Rh +ve were 96.84(HIV+); 96.06 (HIV-) and 97.33(Control). Thus; the higher than normal prevalence of group O+ in HIV+ pregnant women is indicative of the population size for this group. The very low prevalence of Rh -ve in type A- suggests that incompatibility could be higher than in this population and protective in HIV infection contrary to the previous report in apparently healthy population. The obvious absence of Rh- in AB group suggests that AB may have a higher percentage of protection against immunization. Hence in group B; less incidence of Rh incompatibility and haemolytic disease of the young in the mothers in blood group AB will occur