Ho Olawumi

Normal CD4 Count Range among Healthy Nigerian Population in Ilorin

Background: For the establishment and monitoring of the immune status, CD4 count is critical. Objectives: To determine the CD4 count range of apparently healthy Nigerians resident in Ilorin and compare with the national value. Methods: An automated blood analyzer was used to determine the full blood count and CD4 count. The percentage of CD4 count was derived by using other variables. Results: Of the 1205 participants, the reference CD4 count (percentage of CD4) range for adult was 400 to 1288 cells/mm3 (19%-48%) and for children was 582 to 3652 cells/mm3 (17%-50%). CD4 count and percentage of CD4 were significantly (P = .001) higher in females than in males, and the CD4 count declined significantly with increasing age (r = −.174, P ≤ .0001). The percentage of CD4 count shows less variation with age (r = −.051, P = .076). Adult residents of Ilorin had significantly lower absolute mean CD4 count (808 ± 260) than that of the national reference values of 847.0 ± 307.0 cells/mm3 (P = .001). Conclusion: We therefore advocate the use of CD4 count range derived in this study is lower than that of the national reference values.

Sero-prevalence of hepatitis B and C among mentally ill patients attending a tertiary hospital in Nigeria

BACKGROUND Mentally ill persons are vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections including hepatitis B and C because of their high level risky behaviors. This study is aimed at establishing the sero-prevalence of hepatitis B and C among the mentally ill individuals (MII) attending psychiatric clinic of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Nigeria since it has not been documented. METHODS A total of 350 MII were recruited. HBsAg testing was by immunoassay test strip (Grand Medical Diagnostic R USA) while hepatitis C was tested by commercially prepared kits from ACON, R USA. Healthy adults who presented as donors in the blood bank of the hospital were used as controls. RESULTS A total of 700 participants including 350 MII and 350 blood donors (BDs) were recruited for the study. The mean ages of MII and control participants were 36.5 ± 12.3 and 31.4 ± 8.3, respectively.The sero-prevalence of hepatitis B and C among patients with mental illness was 10.0 and 12.6%, respectively, as compared to 10.9% and 1.1% of the blood donors. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of HCV among mentally ill when compared with the blood donors (P = 0.001, χ2 = 33.97; OR (CI) =12.44 (5.33-29.03). CONCLUSION Mentally ill patients attending UITH were significantly infected with hepatitis C virus. There is need for interventional measures to reduce the prevalence of hepatitis C among the mentally ill population such as health education and early screening of mentally ill in our setting.

Fibrinolytic proteins of normal pregnancy and pre-eclamptic patients in North West Nigeria

Background The hypercoagulability of pregnancy is exaggerated in pre-eclamptic state because of endothelial activation with resultant production of some endothelial derived proteins that are said to be inhibitors of fibrinolysis. This study compares these proteins like tPA, PAI-1 and D-dimers in normal pregnant women and the pre-eclamptic women. Methodology This was a comparative cross-sectional study. Eighty-five pre-eclamptic women were recruited as subjects and eighty five age, trimester and parity matched normotensive pregnant women as controls. Levels of PT, aPTT, tPA, PAI-1, D-dimer protein were determined in blood samples of subjects and controls. Urinalysis was performed with dipstick method on their urine samples. Data generated was analysed using the IBM®SPSS 20.0 (2011) soft ware packages and the level of significance was a p-value <0.05. Results The mean age of the respondents was 29.9±5.2 years. The median(25th–75th percentile) values of D-dimer, tPA, and PAI-1 of subjects were 730 (305.000–1560.000ng/ml), 0.11 (0.065–0,300ng/ml) and 3.65 (2.970–4,400ng/ml) respectively which were significantly higher than the corresponding values in the controls of 520 (24.000–1030.000ng/ml), 0.05 (0.040–0.090ng/ml and 2.650 (2.125–3.400ng/ml) respectively, p<0.05 each. Conclusion The abnormal levels of PAI-1, D-dimer and tPA imply that they contribute to the exaggerated hypercoagulabilty state in pre-eclampsia thus, measuring their levels can help in the management of the condition.