Prevalence of Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD) Deficiency among Neonates with Jaundice in a Tertiary Hospitalin Nigeria

G6PD deficiency is known to be associated with neonatal jaundice, kernicterus and even death. G6PD is the first enzyme of the pentose phosphate pathway and catalyzes the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate to 6-phosphogluconolactone, with the concomitant reduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) to its reduced form (NADPH). Three hundred and twenty five neonatal blood samples were collected for the study between the ages of 1–10days of both sexes. About 4ml of blood sample was collected from newborn baby with jaundice, 2ml of blood sample was dispensed into di-potassium ethylenediaminetetracetic acid (K2EDTA) bottles for packed cell volume and haemoglobin estimation using haematology analyzer (sysmex model KX-21N) also K2EDTA blood sample was used for G6PD status determination, remaining 2ml of blood sample was dispensed into heparin bottles for bilirubin estimation. Out of 325 newborn babies with neonatal jaundice, 96(29.5%) were G6PD deficient; 57 were male and 39 were female. Mean± SD of total bilirubin (B1) andconjugated bilirubin(B2) were significantly (P<0.05) higher in G6PD- deficient participants compared with G6PD normal. Neonates should be screened for G6PD deficiency when family history, ethnic or geographic origin on the timing of the appearance of neonatal jaundice suggests the possibility of G6PD deficiency.

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