Haematogram and serum iron status of malnourished Nigerian children.

Haematological parameters, total serum iron, and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) concentrations were estimated in twenty protein energy malnourished (PEM) children, five kwashiorkor (K), five marasmus (M), five marasmic-kwashiorkor (MK), and five undernourished (U) aged between one and five years on admission and after 18 days hospitalisation at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex. The Hospital diet for K and MK consisted of 8% protein and 802 calories per litre while that for M and U consisted of 30% protein and 1350 calories per litre. After the period of 18 days of rehabilitation there was no significant (p> 0.05) difference (Student's t-test) in the weight for age. None of the haematological parameters was significantly different after rehabilitation for all the four types of PEM. Of the four types only Kwashiorkor with mean serum iron values of 15.6+/-1.51 micrograms/100 ml and 21.17+/-0.33 micrograms/100 ml on admission and after rehabilitation respectively was significantly (P< 0.05) different. More attention by the OAUTHC authorities needs to be paid to the management, feeding and diet given to these children so that there will be a greater and more rapid improvement in their rehabilitation

Reference Physiological Ranges for Serum Biochemical Parameters among Healthy Cameroonians to Support HIV Vaccine and Related Clinical Trials

Background: A valid scientific evaluation of the efficacy of HIV vaccines or antiretroviral drugs includes measurement of changes in physiological parameters of subjects from known established baseline reference ranges. This study was designed to establish reference ranges for biochemical parameters among healthy adult Cameroonians to support planned HIV Vaccine clinical trials and scaling up of ARV drugs among AIDS patients.Methods: After informed consent, blood and urine samples were collected from a total of 576 adult Cameroonians and analyzed for the presence of underlying pathologies that may affect biochemical parameters. Samples from 501 of them were found eligible for the determination of reference biochemical parameters. After complete assay, the data were subjected to both parametric and non parametric statistics for analyses with 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles considered as the lower and upper limits of reference ranges.Results: There were 331(66.1%) males and 170(33.9) females, with 359(71.7%) and 142(28.3) of them residing in the urban and rural areas respectively. Statistically significant differences (P&lt;0.05) were observed in the following biochemical parameters between urban and rural participants: AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, total protein, albumin, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and the bilirubins. When the data were regrouped into sex, there were statistically significant differences (P&lt;0.05) in the following parameters between males and females: AST, ALT, creatinine, albumin, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and direct bilirubin.Conclusion: The present study shows that sex and geographic location have significant impact on reference physiological biochemical parameters of healthy, adult Cameroonians; hence this should be taken into consideration when monitoring participants either during HIV Vaccine clinical trials or on antiretroviral (ARV) drugs treatment.Key Words: Normal Biochemical Ranges, Health Adult Cameroonians

Reference Physiological Ranges for Serum Biochemical Parameters among Healthy Cameroonians to Support HIV Vaccine and Related Clinical Trials

Background: A valid scienti\ufb01c evaluation of the e\ufb03cacy of HIV vaccines or antiretroviral drugs includes measurement of changes in physiological parameters of subjects from known established baseline reference ranges. This study was designed to establish reference ranges for biochemical parameters among healthy adult Cameroonians to support planned HIV Vaccine clinical trials and scaling up of ARV drugs among AIDS patients. Methods: After informed consent, blood and urine samples were collected from a total of 576 adult Cameroonians and analyzed for the presence of underlying pathologies that may a\ufb00ect biochemical parameters. Samples from 501 of them were found eligible for the determination of reference biochemical parameters. After complete assay, the data were subjected to both parametric and non parametric statistics for analyses with 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles considered as the lower and upper limits of reference ranges. Results: There were 331 (66.1%) males and 170 (33.9) females, with 359 (71.7%) and 142 (28.3%) of them residing in the urban and rural areas respectively. Statistically signi\ufb01cant di\ufb00erences (P&lt;0.05) were observed in the following biochemical parameters between urban and rural participants: AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, total protein, albumin, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and the bilirubins. When the data were regrouped into sex, there were statistically signi\ufb01cant di\ufb00erences (P&lt;0.05) in the following parameters between males and females: AST, ALT, creatinine, albumin, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and direct bilirubin. Conclusion: The present study shows that sex and geographic location have signi\ufb01cant impact on reference physiological biochemical parameters of healthy, adult Cameroonians; hence this should be taken into consideration when monitoring participants either during HIV Vaccine clinical trials or on antiretroviral (ARV) drugs treatment

Omics-based molecular techniques in oral pathology centred cancer: Prospect and challenges in Africa

: The completion of the human genome project and the accomplished milestones in the human proteome project; as well as the progress made so far in computational bioinformatics and “big data” processing have contributed immensely to individualized/personalized medicine in the developed world.At the dawn of precision medicine, various omics-based therapies and bioengineering can now be applied accurately for the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and risk stratifcation of cancer in a manner that was hitherto not thought possible. The widespread introduction of genomics and other omics-based approaches into the postgraduate training curriculum of diverse medical and dental specialties, including pathology has improved the profciency of practitioners in the use of novel molecular signatures in patient management. In addition, intricate details about disease disparity among diferent human populations are beginning to emerge. This would facilitate the use of tailor-made novel theranostic methods based on emerging molecular evidences

Reference Physiological Ranges for Serum Biochemical Parameters among Healthy Cameroonians to Support HIV Vaccine and Related Clinical Trials

Background: A valid scientific evaluation of the efficacy of HIV vaccines or antiretroviral drugs includes measurement of changes in physiological parameters of subjects from known established baseline reference ranges. This study was designed to establish reference ranges for biochemical parameters among healthy adult Cameroonians to support planned HIV Vaccine clinical trials and scaling up of ARV drugs among AIDS patients. Methods: After informed consent, blood and urine samples were collected from a total of 576 adult Cameroonians and analyzed for the presence of underlying pathologies that may affect biochemical parameters. Samples from 501 of them were found eligible for the determination of reference biochemical parameters. After complete assay, the data were subjected to both parametric and non parametric statistics for analyses with 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles considered as the lower and upper limits of reference ranges. Results: There were 331 (66.1%) males and 170 (33.9) females, with 359 (71.7%) and 142 (28.3%) of them residing in the urban and rural areas respectively. Statistically significant differences (P<0.05) were observed in the following biochemical parameters between urban and rural participants: AST, ALT, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, total protein, albumin, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and the bilirubins. When the data were regrouped into sex, there were statistically significant differences (P<0.05) in the following parameters between males and females: AST, ALT, creatinine, albumin, triglyceride, total cholesterol, and direct bilirubin. Conclusion: The present study shows that sex and geographic location have significant impact on reference physiological biochemical parameters of healthy, adult Cameroonians; hence this should be taken into consideration when monitoring participants either during HIV Vaccine clinical trials or on antiretroviral (ARV) drugs treatment