Sex determination from femoral head diameters in black Malawians

Objectives: To determine the sex of black Malawians from femoral head diameters.Design: A retrospective study on patients investigated in three x-ray departments.Setting: Radiographs were collected from the archives of Queen Elizabeth Central, Chikwawa and Balaka hospitals.Subject: X-ray films of 496 pelves of adult black patients aged 18-70 years were studied. Main outcome measure: Femoral diameters were used to determine sex using the identification (IP) and demarking (DP) points.Results: The mean diameter of male femoral heads was significantly greater (P = 0.001) than in females and the IP was significantly higher (P = 0.001) in males than in females. The IP of Malawian males was comparable to southwestern Nigerian males. More female bones were identified because the mean head diameter of male femurs fell within the range of diameters that fail to identify sex. The DP identified sexof a lower percentage of femurs when compared to the IP. However, both parameters also identified sex of a lower percentage of femurs when compared to those of Nigerians.Conclusion: The femoral head diameters determined sex in adult black Malawians using the IP and DP points. In medico-legal cases where sophisticated methods of sex determination is lacking, these simple methods should be recommended especially in developing countries

Anthropometric profile of urban adult black Malawians

Objective: To determine the anthropometric profile of urban adult black Malawians.Design: A cross sectional study of adult subjects.Setting: The subjects were recruited from two townships of Kachere and Bangwe, Blantyre.Subjects: Eight hundred and ninety eight urban adults, 583 males and 315 females aged sixteen to sixty years. were randomly selected. Only those who could identify both parents and grandparents as Malawians were included. Pregnant women and physically disabled persons were excluded from the study.Main outcome measures: Height, weight, body mass index (BMI), hip and waist circumferences and waist: hip ratio (W: H) were determined.Results: The mean height of men was 166 (±6SD) cm and that of women 155 (±9.4 SD) cm. The mean weight, BMI, hip and waist circumferences for men were 60 (±6SD) kg, 21.56 ± 1.71SD, 92 ± 4.4 SD cm and 75 ± 6.3 SD cm and for women 62 (±14 SD) kg, 25.54 (±5.59SD), 99 (±12SD) cm and 79 (±10SD) cm, respectively. Only women were found to be obese (11.43%,BMI ³ 30). The prevalence of underweight in men (BMI < 20) was 20% and 9.21%, in women (BMI < 19). More than three per cent of the men were overweight (BMI ³ 25) but none was obese (BMI ³ 30) while 37.14% of the women were overweight (BMI ³ 24).Conclusion: These findings suggest that obesity is a potential problem among urban females, and the roles of nutritional, metabolic and genetic factors are discussed

Effects of chronic administration of efavirenz on the nissl substances on the intracranial visual relay centres of adult Wistar rats

The effects of chronic administration of efavirenz commonly used as part of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) type-1 therapy on the nissl substance of the intracranial visual relay centres namely the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate body of adult wistar rats were carefully studied. The rats of both sexes (n=20), with an average weight of 200g were randomly assigned into treatment (n=10) and control (n=10) groups. The rats in the treatment group received 600mg/70kg body weight of efavirenz dissolved in distilled water daily for 30 days through the orogastric tube. The control group received equal volume of distilled water daily for 30 days through the same route. The rats were fed with grower’s mash obtained from Edo Feeds and Flour Mill Limited, Ewu, Edo state, Nigeria and given water liberally. The rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation method on the thirty-first day of the experiment. The superior colliculus and lateral geniculate body were carefully dissected out and quickly fixed in 10% formal saline for histological study. The histological findings indicated that the treated sections of the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate body showed that the nissl substances were less intensely stained as compared to the control. The parenchyme was vacuolated, there were evidence of hypertrophy and more spaces between the axonal mesh around the sparsely distributed neurons as compared to the control group. The treated section of the superior colliculus showed neurons with faintly stained nissl substances of various sizes and with evidence of hypertrophy while that of the lateral geniculate body showed less intense and enlarge nissl substances with characterized microcytic changes. Chronic administration of efavirenz may have an adverse effect on the nissl substances of the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate body of adult wistar rats. It is recommended that further studies aimed at corroborating these observations be carried out.Keywords: Efavirenz, Nissl Substance, Superior Colliculus, Lateral Geniculate Body, Wistar Rat

Morphological Effects of Chronic Administration of Zidovudine on the Visual Relay Centres of Adult Wistar Rats

The oxidative stress effects in chronic administration of Zidovudine (ZDV) on vision had also been reported. The objective of this study was to investigate how ZDV induced morphological changes in the tissues. The rats of both sexes (N=40), with an average weight of 200g were equally but simple randomly assigned into treatment and control groups. Each animal in the treatment group received approximately 0.857mg/200g of ZDV twice daily (on the basis of 300mg/70kg body weight dosage). The findings indicated that there was a significant (p &lt; 0.05) increase in the weight of the treated superior colliculus and decrease in the weight of the treated lateral geniculate body as compared to their corresponding control group. The morphological changes were consistent with previous findings, which include cellular changes such as hypertrophy, unevenly distributed cellularpopulation, and vacuolations in the stroma of the treated tissues as compared to the control group. The toxic effects of ZDV on the morphology of the intracranial visual relay centres of the tested adult wistar rats observed in this experiment may underline some of the possible  neurological symptoms reported concerning ZDV treatments in human.Keywords: Zidovudine, Morphological effects, Superior Colliculus, Lateral Geniculate Body, Wistar Rat

Histological effects of long term administration of piliostigma thonningii stem bark on the liver of adult Wistar rats

The histological effects of long term administration of piliostigma thonningii commonly used for the treatment of dysentery, fever, respiratory ailments, snake bites, hookworm and skin infections on the liver of adult wistar rats was carefully investigated. The rats of both sexes (N=21), with an average weight of 180g were randomly assigned into two test groups (n1 &amp; n2=14) and control group (n3=7). Animals in the test group A received the extract of Piliostigma thonningii stem barks at a single dose of 200mg/kg body weight daily, animals in test group B received a single dose of 400mg/kg body weight daily for twenty eight days through the orogastric tube administration while the control animals received equal volume of distilled water through the same route and for the same period. The rats were fed with grower’s mash obtained from Edo Feeds and Flour Mill Limited, Ewu, Edo state, Nigeria. The rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation on the twenty nine day of the experiment and the liver was carefully dissected out and quickly fixed in 10% formal saline for further routine histological study. The findings indicated that the liver in the test groups (groups A&amp;B) showed some level of distortion and disruption of the cytoarchitecture with some marked congestion of blood mainly at the central vein of the liver. The presence of perivascular polymorph nuclei cells and congestion of blood in the sinusoidal space of the liver was also observed in the tested groups with that of group B more marked. Long term administration of extract of Piliostigma thonningii stem barks may therefore have an adverse effect on the liver of adult wistar rats.Keywords: Piliostigma thonningii, liver, Wistar rats

Effects of chronic administration of aqueous alchornea cordifolia leaf on the kidney of adult wistar rats

Effects of chronic administration of aqueous extract of alchornea cordifolia leaf commonly used in the treatment of diarrhoea, cough, gonorrhoea, chest pain and anemia on the kidney of adult wistar rats was investigated. Rats of both sexes (n=20), with an average weight of 200g were randomly assigned into test (n=10) and control (n=10) groups. Rats in the test group were given the aqueous extract of alchornea cordifolia leaf at a single dose of 250mg/kg body weight daily for thirty days through the orogastric tube administration while the control group received equal volume of distilled water through the same route and for the same period. Rats were fed with grower’s mash obtained from Edo Feeds and Flour Mill Limited, Ewu, Edo state, Nigeria. Rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation method on the thirty-first day of the experiment and the kidney was carefully dissected out, dried, weighed, and quickly fixed in 10% formal saline for further routine histological study. Findings indicated that the kidney in the test group (group B) showed some level of distortion and disruption of the cytoarchitecture of the renal cortical structure with marked diffuse glomerulonephritis and an enlarged Bowman’s space as compared to the control group. Findings also indicated that there was a significant (P &lt; 0.05) decrease in weights (g) of the test kidney as compared to the control group. Chronic administration of aqueous extract of alchornea cordifolia leaf may therefore have an adverse effect on the kidney of adult wistar rats. It is recommended that further studies aimed at corroborating these observations be carried out.Keywords: Morphology effects, Alchornea cordifolia, Kidney, Wistar rats

Prevalence of lens opacity at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi

Objective: To determine the prevalence of lens opacity in black Africans.Design: A retrospective study.Setting: Eye Ward, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Blantyre between July and December 1997.Subjects: Case notes of 299 patients aged six months to 84 years with cataracts were studied.Results: Over 90% of the patients were referred from all ten district hospitals in the southern region. Of the 647 patients admitted in the Eye Ward, 299 patients (46.2%) had cataracts - 206 (68.8%) males and 93 females (31.1%). Bilateral cataracts accounted for 61.9%; 22.4% were on the left eye and 15.7% on the right eye. Senility was the leading cause of cataracts in adults, being commonest among unskilled (48.8%) compared to skilled (15.1%) patients, but in children congenital cataracts (53.7%) were the most common.Conclusion: Cataracts accounted for nearly half the admissions in the eye ward. Laterality is reported probably for the first time in Central Africa - bilateral cataracts being more common than unilateral ones, and the leading cause of cataracts in adults was senilitywhereas congenital cataracts were commoner in children. The prevalence increased with age, males being affected more than females. These findings suggest cataracts as the leading cause of blindness. Community-based studies to determine the prevalence andprofile of cataracts are recommended

Craniometric patterns of three Nigerian ethnic groups

The usefulness of craniometry in facilitating proper identification of skeletal remains and in emphasizing a common origin of studied populations is far reaching. Conducting anthropological studies with the aim of obtaining the characteristics of ethnic groups assists not only in understanding the frequency distribution of human morphologies but also in providing the basis for comparison of races. Craniometric patterns were studied in three selected ethnic groups in Nigeria and this study will no doubt form a baseline data for subsequent studies especially as regards the studied populations. This study involved 699 (male 361; female 338) volunteers whose age ranged 18 and over. Respondents were selected along three ethnic groups including Urhobo (male 156; female 147), Ibo (male 141 female 145) and Edo (male 64; female 46) and it was ensured that population for the study was collected using a random stratified method. The cranial volume was measured using standard techniques and it was shown to exhibit strong sexual dimorphism and was useful in differentiating inter and intra population groups. The results showed a significant effect of cranial volume on the measured ethnic groups at 0.05 level of significance. While the Ibo&#8217;s had an average cranial volume of 1273.39 cm3, that of the Urhobo&#8217;s was 1255.89 and 1310.08 cm3 for the Edo people. Also the cranial capacity of male (1334.34 cm3) was significantly different from that of female (1204.54 cm3) in all the studied tribes, male being larger than that of female p &lt; 0.05

Patterns of cephalic indexes in three West African populations

Several craniometric studies involving Caucasian, Mongoloid and Americans have been conducted and its usefulness in facilitating proper identification of skeletal remains and in emphasizing a common origin of studied populations cannot be overemphasized. This study involved 699 (male 361; female 338) volunteer students of Delta State University whose age ranged 18 years and over. Respondents were selected along three ethnic groups including Urhobo (male 156; female 147), Ibo (male 141; female145) and Edo (male 64; female 46). The mean cephalic index (CI) between the sampled populations was 77.95 &#177; 4.34 cm. There was an observed significant effect of age on cephalic index (p &lt; 0.01) but gendershowed no significant effects on cephalic index. The values for the three selected tribes did not differ significantly from one another nor differ from the population mean (p &lt; 0.05). The mean male and female CI values were 77.67 and 78.14 cm, respectively. The Cephalic index patterns of three indigenous West African ethnic groups (Urhobo, Edo and Ibo) was presented in this study highlighting certain features common to West African and perhaps African populations. It was shown that Cephalic index were significant indices for differentiation of population groups and cultures. In spite of these observations, differences which enable intracultural differentiation commonly occur as exhibited by the&#160; craniometric pattern in this study. Inevitably therefore, craniometric studies are most essential in the study of population dynamics especially with respect to quantitative variables