Prevalence of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in HIV Positive and other Patients Attending Selected Hospitals in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic disease, involving tissues and multiple organs often damaged by pathogenic autoantibodies and immune complexes. The research was undertaken to determine the incidence of SLE among middle-aged female patients in respect to their HIV status, attending selected Hospital Kaduna State. A total of 100 middle-aged female patients were selected randomly comprising of 50 blood samples of HIV negative and 50 samples of HIV positive patients and assayed to confirm their HIV status using the Determine HIV-1/2 test Strip. SLE latex agglutination test was used to determine the presence of SLE antibodies in the among the study population test. A total of 27 patients tested positive for SLE representing 27% prevalence among the study population. In respect to their HIV status, 25 (50%) of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive patients were positive for SLE while only 2 (4%) were SLE positive among the HIV negative patients. In respect to age range among the HIV positive patients, patients aged 45 and above had the highest prevalence of SLE of 78% followed by those between 35 and 44 years which had a prevalence of 57%.The least prevalence was found in the lower age range of 18 – 24 years. Among the HIV, HIV negative patients that presented with malaria, typhoid, diabetes all tested negative for SLE while only 6% of those with generalized fever tested positive for SLE. It was also found that the single patient with Rheumatoid arthritis tested positive for SLE. Keywords: Systemic Lupus erythematosus, Human Immunodeficiency Virus antibodies, Rheumatoid arthriti

Determination of Antinuclear Antibody and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Selected Patients Attending University Medical Center (Sickbay) A.B.U, Zaria Nigeria

SLE is an auto-immune disease that is largely under-reported in most developing countries as the syndrome often resembles rheumatoid arthritis. This research was therefore carried out to determine, the level of Antinuclear, Antibody (ANA) in patients with suspected Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) in University Medical Center (Sickbay) Samaru, Zaria. Out of 100 blood samples collected, 23 samples (23%) were tested positive for SLE and 77 samples (77%) were tested negative for SLE. Then 92 out of the 100 samples were also screened for ANA, where 55 samples (59.8%) were found to be positive and 37 samples (40.2%) were tested negative for ANA.  From ANA positive patients, 22 (40%) were found to be SLE positive and 33 (60%) were found to be SLE negative, while among ANA negative patients none was found to be SLE positive and 37 (100%) were found to be SLE negative. Age-range of 31-40years had the highest prevalence among the SLE patients with 7 (46.7%) positive and below 20 and above 50 years had the lowest prevalence. Among the ANA positive patients, age range of 31-40 years had the highest prevalence of 21 (85.7%) and above 50 years had the lowest 9 (34.6%) prevalence. Hepatitis patients had the highest prevalence 8 (57.1%) among the SLE positive patients. Finally, this research revealed that female patients had the highest prevalence with a total of 20 positive (33.3%) out of the 23 SLE positive patients and also female patients had the highest prevalence of 37 (66.9%) out of the 55 patients tested positive for ANA. In respect to this, females should therefore avoid doing things that will increase the risk of infections since they are at high risk of been infected. It is therefore recommended among others that ANA tests should be recommended as major diagnosis of SLE as the disease is confirmed to be the major triggering factor for ANA. Keywords: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Antinuclear, Antibody (ANA), rheumatoid arthriti

Urinary schistosomiasis: risk factors and symptoms among school adolescents in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Improper waste disposal, unsafe water and indiscriminate water-contact activities are major factors enhancing continuous spread of schistosomiasis in Nigeria. Many water bodies are prone to contamination with human wastes directly discharged into them or due to surface runoff, and are infested with parasites. Open defecation and discharge of household sewage into water channels is still practiced. Children conduct activities in these water bodies, thereby exposing themselves to infections with schistomes among other pathogens. Urine samples (10 mL each) were collected from 600 consented school adolescents across six Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Information on their water-contact activities were obtained by means of questionnaires. Urine sediment was examined for Schistosoma haematobium eggs by microscopy. No infection was recorded in adolescents who had awareness about the disease. Those who engaged in swimming (9.2 %, OR=2.2) and fishing (10.3 %, OR=2.1) were significantly more infected than those who did not (P≤0.05). Adolescents who worked on irrigated farms (9.0 %, OR=1.4), washed clothes in rivers (9.0 %, OR=1.6), or fetch water from rivers for domestic purpose (10.0 %) were more infected than others who did not engage in those activities. Therefore, swimming and fishing are important factors enhancing the spread of schistosomiasis among school adolescents in Kaduna State. Irrigation farming, washing of clothes in rivers or fetching water from rivers exposed the adolescents to schistosome infections. Widespread awareness campaigns, provision safe water to communities, and standard water-based recreational centers are paramoun

Determination of Rheumatoid Factor in Suspected Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Attending Selected Hospitals in Zaria, Nigeria

The study was carried out to provide information on RF among RA especially in the Northern part of Nigeria is relatively scarce. As such, rheumatoid factor levels in blood could serve as a predictive index for the onset of Rheumatoid arthritis. A total of 182 sera samples were analyse for the presence of IgM rheumatoid factor by ELISA. Seventeen (17) were found to be positive and 165 negative giving a prevalence of 9.3% and 90.7% respectively. The age range of 50 and above had the highest RF positive cases of 4.9%. This is followed by the eighteen (18) to thirty (30) age range. The association was not significant at p-value of 0.05. Similarly, the relationship between RF and gender showed that 5.5% (n=101) of females were positive while than 3.8% (n=81) of males were positive. The association was not significant. The highest participants had tertiary level of education which has a RF prevalence of 4.4%. Most of the participants that tested positive for RF were married (8.2%). There was no significant association between positivity for RF and level of education as well as marital status. There was however no statistical significant association between RF and the signs and symptoms (stiffness of joints, swelling around the joints, general fatigue, muscle pains, fever 13 and joint pains). Out of the 29 patients with history investigated for RA, 4 (2.2%) were positive for RF. Among the participants that smoke cigarette (n=4), none was RF positive. Both factors did not show significant association at a p-value of 0.05. The information in this study would serve as a predictive index for the onset of Rheumatoid arthritis. Keywords: Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rheumatoid Factor, Auto-immune disease, synovial inflammatio

Prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus 1/2 in Nigeria’s capital territory and meta-analysis of Nigerian studies

Objectives: This study was aimed at determining human T-lymphotropic virus 1/2 prevalence among apparently healthy, immunocompromised and haematologic malignant individuals in Nigeria’s capital, as well as meta-analysis of all Nigerian studies until date. Methods: A total of 200 participants were recruited into a cross-sectional study. In total, 1 mL each of sera and plasma were obtained from 5 mL blood of each participant and analysed for antibodies to human T-lymphotropic virus 1/2 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; positive samples confirmed with qualitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, followed by statistical and meta-analysis. Sociodemographic characteristics and possible risk factors were assessed via questionnaires. Results: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay yielded 1% prevalence which was confirmed to be zero via polymerase chain reaction. A total of 119 (59.5%) of the participants were male, while the mean age was 35.28 ± 13.61 years. Apart from sex and blood reception/donation, there was generally a low rate of exposure to human T-lymphotropic virus–associated risk factors. Meta-analysis revealed pooled prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus 1 and 2 to be 3% and 0%, respectively, from Nigerian studies. Conclusion: This study discovered zero prevalence of human T-lymphotropic virus 1/2 from five major hospitals in Nigeria’s capital, exposing the importance of confirmatory assays after positive antibody detection assay results. Meta-analysis highlighted the existence of very few reliable Nigerian studies compared to the demography of the nation. Large-scale epidemiological studies and routine screening of risk populations are therefore needed since Nigeria lies in the region of endemicity