APOLIPOPROTEIN E GENE POLYMORPHISMS AND PLASMA LIPIDS IN PERSONS LIVING WITH HIV: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY.

Background and Objective: A major modifiable risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is abnormalities in lipid and lipoprotein metabolism which are frequently seen in HIV as well as its treatment. Apo-E is a protein that is important in plasma lipid homeostasis and its genetic alleles have been shown to contribute to lipid abnormalities. We examined for the effect of Apo-E gene polymorphisms on plasma lipid levels in PLHIV on protease inhibitor therapy. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among adult persons living with HIV. Lipid profile, Apo-B and Apo-A were measured in fasting plasma. Amplification and analysis of Apo-E genotypes were determined using the Seeplex Apo-E ACE genotyping kit. Differences in quantitative values were compared with non-parametric analysis methods. Results: Eighty-four persons were recruited into the study, 75% of whom were virally suppressed. The 3 homozygous genotypes had significantly different levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), Apolipoprotein B (Apo-B) and Apolipoprotein A1 (Apo-A1). Persons with apo ε2/ε2 had higher LDL-C compared to those with apo ε3/ε3 (3.26 (3.61) mmol/L vs. 2.76 (1.28) mmol/L, p = 0.010). Those with apo ε4/ε4 had lower Apo-A1 compared to those with apo ε3/ε3 (0.84 (0.48) g/dL vs. 1.27 (0.70) g/dL, p =0.009). Compared with the same group, the heterozygous genotype, apo ε2/ε3 had lower triglyceride levels :1.33 (0.65) mmol/ L vs. 1.86 (1.11) mmol/L, p = 0.045. Conclusion: Polymorphisms in the Apo-E gene may have significant influences on plasma lipid and apolipoprotein levels in PLHIV on PI therapy. This may have implications for the assessment of risk for cardiovascular disease.

Defining apolipoprotein B treatment targets.

BACKGROUND: Apolipoprotein B (apo B) has been widely reported to be a better predictor of cardiovascular risk than low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). This is the reason apo B treatment target values based on the equivalence to LDL-C values in healthy population has been advocated using percentiles from population studies. The aim of this study was to determine the apo B values equivalent to currently used medical decision targets for LDL-C concentration in a population of healthy Nigerians and examine for any demographic influence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 252 apparently healthy individuals (89 males, 163 females), between the ages of 30 and 65 years were selected from core health workers (medical and nursing staffs) of University College Hospital Ibadan between December 2015 and May 2016. Serum lipids and apo B were measured using enzymatic and immunoturbidimetry method, respectively. RESULTS: The mean apo B of the study population were 94 and 98 mg/dL in men and women, respectively. Mean apo B concentration was significantly higher in the female participants in the age groups above 55 years. LDL-C concentrations of 100, 130, 160, and 190 mg/dL corresponded to the 15th, 55th, 87th, and 95th percentile, respectively. The corresponding apo B concentrations were 73 mg/dL (15th percentile), 95 mg/dL (55th percentile), 124 mg/dL (87th percentile), and 145 mg/dL (95th percentile). The group of participants with LDL-C of <130 mg/dL and the group with equivalent apo B of <95 mg/dL has the same clinical and biochemical characteristics in both men and women. CONCLUSION: This study has defined apo B targets that may potentially be used to guide the initiation of therapy in persons with dyslipidemia. It has also demonstrated the population level relationship that exists between apo B and LDL-cholesterol and has shown the gender and age-related influence of apo B distribution in the population.

Are roadside petrol dispensers at risk of oxidative stress? a study from gombe, North East Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Gasoline is one of the most frequently utilized chemicals whose use is on the increase. Exposure to the volatile constituents of gasoline generates free radicals leading to oxidative stress. This is associated with nucleic acid, lipids, and protein damages leading to chronic diseases including cancers. Occupational exposure to this product is of public health concern, especially in the developing countries where the awareness and enforcement of safety measures are not adequate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Plasma level of total antioxidant status (TAS) was compared between 90 roadside dispensers of gasoline and 90 age- and sex-matched controls. TAS was measured using standard colorimetric method. RESULTS: The mean age of the exposed and control groups is 29.03 ± 3.7 and 29.24 ± 3.5 years, respectively. The mean plasma TAS level of the exposed (0.60 ± 0.33 mmol/L) was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than that of the controls (1.29 ± 0.25 mmol/L). CONCLUSION: Our data have demonstrated higher level of oxidative stress in roadside dispensers of gasoline compared to the controls. This is an indication that roadside gasoline dispensers are probably at greater risk of developing chronic diseases associated with increased oxidative stress. Antioxidant supplementation may be of benefit to the roadside gasoline dispensers. Legislation on roadside gasoline dispensing should be enforced to reduce the incidence of long-term complications from repeated exposures.

Discordant rapid HIV tests: lessons from a low-resource community.

OBJECTIVES: HIV rapid antibody tests are widely used in Africa, but dual testing sometimes produces discordant results. It is not clear if discordant rapid HIV tests should always heighten suspicion by frontline health workers that early HIV infection is present. Some studies have reported that discordant rapid tests have value for identifying early HIV infection in high HIV prevalence populations. It is not known if rapid test performance influenced this conclusion, or if this observation will hold true for low HIV prevalence populations. We therefore explored the occurrence of discordant rapid HIV tests in a low-resource community. METHODS: A cross-sectional sample of HIV status-unaware adults with recent exposure to unsafe sex was assessed using a validated risk-based tool (University of North Carolina (UNC)-Malawi Risk Screening Score) for acute HIV infection. Participants received rapid testing with Determine™ HIV 1/2 and Uni-Gold™ HIV assays, plus plasma HIV-1 antigen testing with the COBAS® Ampliprep/COBAS® Taqman® HIV-1 assay, followed by western blot in those with detected HIV-1 antigen. RESULTS: Of 408 participants, 1.0% were confirmed to have established HIV infection. The discordance between rapid tests at initial screening was 2.45 and 2.94% when the two assays were used sequentially and simultaneously, respectively. Discordant rapid tests were strongly associated with risk scores > 2 [odds ratio (OR) 10.88; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.35-50.43], and with detected HIV-1 RNA (OR 26.06; 95% CI 3.91-173.60). CONCLUSIONS: When the sample occurrence of discordance between the first and second tests is below 5%, discordant rapid tests in an adult with sexual risk behaviour should trigger strong suspicion of early HIV infection in low HIV prevalence populations.

BURDEN OF CYTOPAENIAS AMONG HIV POSITIVE PREGNANT WOMEN AT THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, IBADAN.

INTRODUCTION: Few studies have examined cytopaenia among HIV positive pregnant women. OBJECTIVES: To assess burden of cytopaenia among HIV positive pregnant women. METHODOLOGY: This cross-sectional study of women on HAART ≤6months, defined anemia as hematocrit <33%, leucopenia as total white blood cell count <3,000 cells/mm3 and thrombocytopenia as absolute platelet count <100,000 cells/mm3. Univariate and bivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: Over 8 years, of 1,197 women, the mean age was 29.02(±5.4) years and mean gestational age 25.9(±8.1) weeks. Prevalence of anaemia was 76.8%, leucopaenia 6.9% and thrombocytopenia 4.7%. The mean haematocrit was 28.5%(±4.5); median white blood count 5,500/mm3 ; median platelet count 200,000/mm3 and median CD4 323 cells/mm3. Mean haematocrit was highest (29.7%±5.3) in women in the first trimester but lowest (28.4% ±4.6) in women in second trimester (p=0.04). Compared with earlier trimesters, women in the third trimester had higher median white blood count (5,600 cells/mm3), higher neutrophil (61.0% ±11.2) but lower lymphocytes (28.3%± 9.2) (p=0.18; 0.00, 0.00). Median absolute platelet count was highest (206,000 cells/mm3) in the first trimester but lowest (195,000 cells/mm3) in third trimester (0.04). Women with lower CD4 had higher prevalence of cytopaenias. CONCLUSION: Cytopaenias are not uncommon in this population especially with lower CD4.

HCV co-infection is associated with metabolic abnormalities among HAART naive HIV-infected persons.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the metabolic abnormalities among Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) co infected HAART naïve HIV infected persons within the adult ARV clinic of the University College Hospital/University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria Methods: This was a retrospective study involving the review of clinical records of newly recruited HIV-infected persons in the adult antiretroviral (ARV) clinic over a 12 month period (January - December 2006). Baseline results for fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and fasting lipid profile were retrieved. RESULTS: Out of the 1,260 HIV infected persons seen during the study period, HCV co-infection was found in 75 (6%) persons. The median values for total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were lower in the HCV co-infected persons. HIV-HCV co-infection was associated with a 0.31 mmol/L depression in Total Cholesterol (TC). The median FPG concentration was significantly higher in HIV-HCV co-infected than HIV only infected persons (5.33mmol/L vs. 5.00mmol/L, p = 0.047). However, regression analysis showed there was no relationship between the HIV-HCV co infected state and fasting glucose levels. CONCLUSION: HIV-HCV co-infection may be associated with a predictable decline in plasma cholesterol, but FPG may not be sufficient to demonstrate insulin resistance in these persons.

Process and outcome measures of quality of care at the diabetes outpatient clinic, University College Hospital, Ibadan.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to assess the quality of care provided at a diabetes outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital in Nigeria using quality indicators approved by the National Diabetes Quality Improvement Alliance (NDQIA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of patients who had visited the clinic at least two times within a 12 months period preceding the index visit were reviewed during a 5 month period. Process measure indicators, approved by the NDQIA (evaluating the functioning of the clinic) and outcome measures, published by the American Diabetes Association, (evaluating the health status of the attending patients) were retrieved from the medical records. RESULTS: The 332 records reviewed showed that the most consistently performed process measures were blood pressure and weight measurement (>90%). Foot examination was done infrequently (10.5%). Less than 50% had at least an annual low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and hemoglobin A1c testing done. The mean (standard deviation) HbA1C (%), LDL-C (mg/dL) systolic blood pressure (SBP) (mmHg), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (mmHg) were 7.6 (2.0), 107.3 (31.5), 134.3 (20.8), 79.5 (11.0), respectively. HbA1C >8.0%, LDL-C >130 mg/dL, SBP >130 mmHg, and DBP >90 mmHg) were observed in 34.8%, 21.1%, 40.4%, and 23.8%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Although the organization of the outpatient services allowed for good performance with regards to "free" services such as blood pressure and weight measurement, it performed suboptimally for foot examinations. Performance indicators that required payment were consistently underperformed. Regular assessment of the quality of care may help in the identification of opportunities for improvement in the organization and delivery of care.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss and Dyslipidemia: Is There Any Relationship?

BACKGROUND: The incidence of dyslipidemia is increasing worldwide due to changes in diet and lifestyle. The aetiological role of dyslipidemia in sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between SNHL and dyslipidemia in adult Nigerian population. DESIGN OF THE STUDY: This prospective case control study was carried out at ENT Department of University College Hospital Ibadan from August 2013 to May 2014. METHODS: The study involved consecutive adult patients (18-60 years) with SNHL. The controls were adults without SNHL matched for age, gender and socioeconomic status. Relevant clinical data were obtained. Hearing threshold was determined by standard method and fasting plasma lipid assayed for triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high density and lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C). The low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) was calculated from TG, TC and HDL-C using Freidewald's formulae. The values of <40mg/dl, >200mg/dl, >150mg/dl and >130mg/dl were considered abnormal for HDL-C, TC, TG and LDL-C respectively. Level of statistical significance was P<0.05. RESULTS: There were 108 participants, consisting 57 (67.7%) cases and 51 (32.9%) controls with mean age of 37.911.3 years and 37.4 11.3-year respectively (p=0.708). Abnormalities in HDL-C values was the commonly observed in both cases (64.9%) and controls (76.5%).Thirty-six (63.2%) cases had severe to profound hearing loss. There was no significant correlation between lipid parameters and severity of SNHL. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dyslipidemia in adult patients with sensorineural hearing loss is similar to those with normal hearing. There appears to beno causal association between dyslipidemia and sensorineural hearing loss.

Renal disease in adult Nigerians with sickle cell anemia: a report of prevalence, clinical features and risk factors.

Renal abnormalities in adult Nigerians with sickle cell anemia (SCA) have not been extensively studied. To determine the prevalence, pattern and the associated risk factors of renal disease, 72 subjects with SCA from two centers in the southwestern Nigeria were investigated. Socio-demographic data, body mass index and clinical findings were documented. The urine analysis, serum bio-chemistry, hemogram and renal factors attributable to SCA were determined. Presence of albuminuria of at least 1+ or microalbuminuria in those negative with dipstick; and the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) using the Cockcroft-Gault formula categorized subjects to various stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Subjects with and without albuminuria were compared to determine the relative risk associated with renal disease. Four (5.6%) subjects had macro-albuminuria, while 32 (44.4%) had micro-albuminuria and 30 (41.7%) had hemoglobinuria. In the subjects with albuminuria, age, hematocrit, systolic blood pressure, serum creatinine, urea and creatinine clearance were numerically higher while the eGFR was numerically lower. There was no significant difference in the clinical parameters studied in the two groups of subjects. The diastolic blood pressure was significantly higher in the albuminuric group. Based on eGFR, 22 (30.6%) subjects had hyperfiltration (GFR > 140 mL/min/1.73 m2), of whom 36.4% had albuminuria, 18 (25.0%) had stage 1 CKD, 30 (41.7%) had stage 2 CKD and two (2.7%) subjects had stage 3 CKD with albuminuria. None had stage 4 and 5 CKD. We conclude that renal abnormalities, importantly albuminuria, is common in adult Nigerians with SCA and the pattern and incidence are similar to those reported from other parts of the world. Regular blood pressure monitoring, early diagnosis and active intervention are advocated to delay progression to end-stage kidney disease in view of poor outcomes of renal replacement therapy in SCA patients with nephropathy.

Livolin ameliorates elevations in alanine transaminase in HIV infected patients commencing highly active antiretroviral therapy.

BACKGROUND: HAART associated hepatoxicity is an important cause of poor adherence to therapy in HIV infected persons. An initial manifestation is elevation in the level ofAlanine Transaminase (ALT) in blood. We sought to evaluate the protective effects of Livolin, a phosphatidylcholine containing preparation, against elevations in this enzyme in persons just commencing HAART. METHODOLOGY: All consenting patients deemed eligible for HAART and who were sero-negative for Hepatitis B and C were recruited into the study. Subjects were divided into a test group which received a thrice daily dose of Livolin capsules for 3 months in addition to HAART and a control group that received only HAART. Blood samples were collected at baseline and after 3 months and analysed for ALT, Aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase and creatinine. The specific HAART combination, age and gender were also noted. RESULTS: Seventy nine (79) persons comprised of 43 test and 36 control subjects completed the study. Sixty six percent (79%) of all subjects were on Nevirapine containing combinations. In total, 8.9% and 11.7% of our patients had elevations at baseline and after 3 months respectively. These were mostly grade I, with grade II toxicity being observed in 3.3% of patients after 3 months of HAART. There was no instance of severe toxicity. For individuals with an elevation in ALT values at baseline, the mean drop at 3 months was significantly more in the test group compared with the control group (34.67 iu/L vs. 14.90 iu/L, p=0.005). Among subjects with on Nevirapine, the mean increment in ALT in the control group was 7.73 iu/L compared with 1.73 iu/L for the test group. CONCLUSION: The findings in this study mirror findings in both animal experiments and human studies of a potential benefit of phosphatidylcholine preparations, like Livolin, in protecting against drug induced hepatotoxicity.

Pattern of fatal head injuries in Ibadan--a 10 year review.

Head injury is an important cause of mortality worldwide. The objective of the present study was to analyse the pattern of fatal head injury among patients seen in University College Hospital, Ibadan. The study was based on retrospective investigation of cases of fatal head injury referred by the coroner to the Department of Pathology, University College Hospital, between 1991 and 2000. Pertinent clinical and postmortem findings were extracted from available coroner's autopsy records. There were 529 cases (402 males and 127 females). Their ages ranged from <1 year to 90 years (mean=33 years), the average age of females (27.8) being less than that of males (34.6) (p=0.00003). 83.8% were road traffic accidents, 8.9% falls from a height, 3.8% assault, and 3% gunshot injuries. 79.1% had a GCS of 8 or less at presentation. The mean survival period of children aged less than 15 years was 2 days while that of adolescents and adults aged 15 years and above was 5.6 days (p=0.02). Subdural (62.4%), subarachnoid (24.6%), epidural (10.2%), and intracerebral (10%) haemorrhages were the major causes of death. Skull fractures occurred in 38.2%, while cerebral contusions occurred in 22.1%. Intracranial infection was relatively uncommon in these patients. The present study has shown that young adults, predominantly males in their most productive years of life, are especially prone to fatal head injury.