Heavy Metal Burden and Health Risk Assessment of Fresh, Frozen and Smoked Fish from a Local Market in Southwest Nigeria

Heavy metals load in fish environment and fish products had been an issue of public concern. The burden of some heavy metals in fresh tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), frozen Herring (Clupea harengus), smoked herring, and associated risk to man was investigated. Atomic absorption spectrometry was used to determine metal concentrations. Standard risk measurement indices [daily metal intake (DMI), hazard quotient (HQ), and health risk index (HRI)] were used. Levels of Mn and Fe were significantly different (p<0.05) among the fish species, while the burden of other metals was low to not detected in the samples. The level of Cu (0.11±0.04), Zn (2.51±0.82), and Fe (8.72±4.41) were recorded in the bones of smoked herrings, while the highest levels of Mg were recorded in fresh tilapia. Gills recorded significantly (p<0.05) high levels of Mg (1.16±0.02), Fe (14.92±0.53), Cu (0.10±0.00), and Zn (1.35±0.04). The muscle of the frozen herring records the highest burden of these metals. Mn, Fe, Cu, and Cd revealed the highest HRI in all fish samples and age categories, especially for nine years old and below children. In conclusion, health fish indicators revealed that Mn, Fe, Cu, and Cd pose a risk to the populace and, with long time consumption, can do more damage to consumers, especially frozen herring

A Correlation Study Of Ulcer Status With Bacterial Colonization And Invasion

Wound biopsy is a reliable way of diagnosing wound infection in patients with chronic ulcer of the limbs and in burn patients. The biopsy specimen is subjected to both histological and microbiological analysis. While wound swabs often cultured mixed contaminants, biopsy specimens usually reveal single organism growth. This is a prospective study of fifty patients with chronic leg ulcers attending surgical outpatient department over a period of 10 months. The ulcers were subjected to histopathology study. The clinical status of the ulcers were correlated with the histopathology result. There was both statistical and clinical significance between the ABDEFS' and HISTOPATHOLOGY scores. A clinician can therefore reasonably predict the degree of bacterial invasion of the ulcer based on the assessment of its clinical appearance and thus commence appropriate treatment before further complication sets in. (Af. J. of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology: 2002 3(1): 11-12

Organ weight, serum biochemistry and gut microbial counts of Thryonomys swinderianus fed diet supplemented with Vernonia amygdalina leaf meal

The study investigated the effect of Vernonia amygdalina (VA) leaf supplementation on organ weight and gut microbial count of Thryonomys&nbsp; swinderianus. Thirty-six weaner grasscutters of mixed sexes were allotted randomly to six treatments (A, B, C, D, E, and F) in a completely randomized design for a nutritional trial of 8 weeks. At the end of the experiment, caecum, kidney, liver, lungs, intestine and the heart were excised&nbsp; to determine their weights and the intestinal/caecal contents and scrapings were obtained to determine the fungi and bacteria population. Data collected were analyzed using one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The VA supplementation had significant effect (p&lt;0.05) on relative organs with a range of 0.47 –0.60%, 0.40 – 0.62%, 1.20 – 2.83%, 0.52 - 0.58%, 5.53 – 12.91%, 714.00 – 960.00g, 494.00 –781.00g and 479.00 – 747.00g for lungs, heart, liver, kidney, intestine, live weight, eviscerated and carcass weight of the grasscutter respectively, with a smaller relative weight of the kidney from 3g/kg VA supplementation upwards. The serum biochemical parameters were also significantly affected by VA supplementation. There was a&nbsp; decrease in alkaline phosphatase, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase but were within the normal range required for rodents. Total protein and Albumin were significantly improved by the supplement while total bilirubin was variable with a significant decrease prior to 4gVA supplementation. Microbial populations in the intestine and ceacum were reduced to varying extent by the supplement. It could be&nbsp; concluded that VA supplementation reduced intestinal and caecal microbes and increased the live and carcass weights but decreased relative weights of selected organs in the grasscutter. Keywords: Grasscutter, Vernonia amygdalina, Organ weight, Microbial count

Genetic studies in the nigerian population implicate an MSX1 mutation in complex oral facial clefting disorders

BACKGROUND: Orofacial clefts are the most common malformations of the head and neck with a World-wide prevalence of 1/700 births. They are commonly divided into CL(P) and CP based on anatomical, genetic and embryological findings. A Nigerian craniofacial anomalies study “NigeriaCRAN” was set up in 2006 to investigate the role of gene-environment interaction in the etiology of orofacial clefts in Nigeria. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: DNA isolated from saliva from the Nigerian probands was used for genotype association studies and direct sequencing on the cleft candidate genes: MSX1, IRF6, FOXE1, FGFR1, FGFR2, BMP4, MAFB, ABCA4, PAX7 and VAX1, and the chromosome 8q region. RESULTS: A missense mutation A34G in MSX1 was observed in nine cases and four hap map controls. No other apparent etiologic variations were identified. A deviation from HWE was observed in the cases (p= 0.00002). There was a significant difference between the affected side for unilateral CL (p=0.03) and, between bilateral clefts and clefts on either side (p=0.02). A significant gender difference was also observed for CP (p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The replication of a mutation previously implicated in other populations suggests a role for the MSX1 A34G variant in the etiology of CL(P)

The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator: development and validation of a tool for identifying African surgical patients at risk of severe postoperative complications

Background: The African Surgical Outcomes Study (ASOS) showed that surgical patients in Africa have a mortality twice the global average. Existing risk assessment tools are not valid for use in this population because the pattern of risk for poor outcomes differs from high-income countries. The objective of this study was to derive and validate a simple, preoperative risk stratification tool to identify African surgical patients at risk for in-hospital postoperative mortality and severe complications. Methods: ASOS was a 7-day prospective cohort study of adult patients undergoing surgery in Africa. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator was constructed with a multivariable logistic regression model for the outcome of in-hospital mortality and severe postoperative complications. The following preoperative risk factors were entered into the model; age, sex, smoking status, ASA physical status, preoperative chronic comorbid conditions, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. Results: The model was derived from 8799 patients from 168 African hospitals. The composite outcome of severe postoperative complications and death occurred in 423/8799 (4.8%) patients. The ASOS Surgical Risk Calculator includes the following risk factors: age, ASA physical status, indication for surgery, urgency, severity, and type of surgery. The model showed good discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.805 and good calibration with c-statistic corrected for optimism of 0.784. Conclusions: This simple preoperative risk calculator could be used to identify high-risk surgical patients in African hospitals and facilitate increased postoperative surveillance. © 2018 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Medical Research Council of South Africa gran