DIGESTIVE ENZYMES IN AFRICAN GIANT LAND SNAIL (ARCHACHATINA MARGINATA) DURING AESTIVATION

The activities of digestive enzymes in the gut regions of African giant land snail, Archachatina marginata were investigated during aestivation induced in the laboratory by the withdrawal of water and food for three weeks. All studied enzymes, amylase, α-glucosidase, cellulase, lipase, and protease, were detected on the gut regions (oesophagus, crop, stomach and intestine). Aestivated snails had significantly lower enzyme activities in all the gut regions than the active snails. Furthermore the stomach recorded the highest enzyme activities of all the gut region

Total and CD4+ T- lymphocyte count correlation in newly diagnosed HIV patients in resource-limited setting

Few clinical settings in resource-limited countries perform CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts required as a baseline test for antiretroviral therapy. We investigated CD4 count in newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients attending our treatment centre and evaluated suitability of total lymphocyte count (TLC) as a surrogate marker for CD4+T-lymphocyte count required as a yardstick for initiating antiretroviral therapy. Usefulness of TLC as a surrogate marker for CD4+T-lymphocyte counts <200, ≤350 and <500cells/µL for HIV-positive patients in our facility was evaluated by 180 pairs of TLC and CD4 counts from 180 newly diagnosed HIV-infected patients and results were compared by linear regression and Spearman’s correlation analytical tools. Approximately 72.8% of our patients were diagnosed late as revealed by CD4 count ≤350cells/µL. An overall good correlation was noted between TLC and CD4+Tcell counts (r=0.65, slope=0.69), m ean total lymphocyte count of 1.04 ± 0.81, 1.39 ± 1.06 and 1.57 ± 1.13 x 10⁹/L correspond to CD4 lymphocyte counts of <200, ≤350 and < 500cells/µL respectively. When considering initiating HAART for HIV-infected Nigerian clients, TLC can be considered as an inexpensive and easily accessible surrogate marker for predicting CD4+T-lymphocyte at two clinically important CD4 thresholds of CD4 count of ≤350 cells/µL and <500cells/µL