Assessment of Alpha Fetoprotein Levels and Gamma Glutamyl Transferase Activity in Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Seropositive Subjects in Nnewi, Nigeria

Hepatitis B and hepatitis C viral infections are the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide. These conditions, which mar the hepatic functional integrity, are characterized by alterations in the liver function markers such as alpha fetoprotein (AFP) and gamma glutamyl tranferase (GGT). In the present study, a total of 90 subjects were recruited. Out of this number, 30 were hepatitis B seropositive subjects, 30 hepatitis C seropositive individuals and the remaining 30 were apparently healthy individuals. The last group served as the control. Serum alpha fetoprotein levels were estimated by the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique and the method adopted for the determination of gamma glutamyl transferase activity was the kinetic-spectrophotometric procedure. The mean serum level of alpha fetoprotein was significantly higher in hepatitis B seropositive subjects compared with the control (P<0.05). The same pattern was observed when the mean serum activity of GGT of the hepatitis B seropositive subjects was compared with that of the control (P<0.05). Furthermore, the mean serum level of AFP and the mean serum GGT activity were significantly higher in hepatitis C seropositive individuals compared with the control (P<0.05). In contrast, no significant difference was observed in the mean serum levels of alpha fetoprotein in hepatitis B seropositive individuals compared with that of hepatitis C seropositive subjects (P>0.05). A positive correlation existed between AFP levels and GGT activity in hepatitis B seropositive subjects (r=0.31) and between AFP levels and GGT activity in hepatitis C seropositive subjects (r=0.25). These findings suggest that evaluation of serum alpha fetoprotein levels and gamma glutamyl transferase activity may be a valuable adjunct in the assessment of disease progression in hepatitis B and hepatitis C seropositive individuals. Keywords: Hepatitis, alpha fetoprotein, glatamyl transferase, disease progression

Utilization of old people's home: Residence elderly's perspectives in selected centres in Lagos

Background of the study: Populations around the world are rapidly ageing with emphasis placed on long term care necessary for the dependent fastgrowing members of the population with geriatric conditions.Objectives: To assess the perception of elderly about old people's homes and determine the factors influencing its utilization in selected centres in Lagos. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive, quantitative cross-sectional study. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all the 52 elderly in the two selected homes for the elderly in Lagos. Data was analysed with SPSS version 20 and presented as tables using descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: They were mainly females (65.4%) with widowed (65.1%). The mean age was 73 years ± 11.86. Majority of respondents (92.3%) have a positive perception about old people's home. Above half (55.8%) got information about the homes from their children and a good number (34.6%) have spent more than 5 years in the home. Culture, children perspectives and children occupation were the major factors agreed by the elderly influencing their utilization of the old people's homes. There were no statistically significant association between Sociodemographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity) of the respondents and the utilization of the home with 'p' = 0.501.Conclusion and recommendation: Even though the elderly had positive perception about the utilization of the old people's home but their children perspectives had altered their participation in the homes which outrightly affected their health status. The nurses should therefore ensure optimal health of the elderly to improve their participation in the home. Keywords: Utilization, Perception, Old People's Homes, Elderly

Effects of different processing methods of Napoleona imperialis (Napoleons Hat) on haematology and serum biochemistry of finisher broiler

Four weeks feeding trial involving 120 (one hundred and twenty) Fedan finisher broilers was carried out in a completely randomized design. The birds were divided into five treatment groups of 24 birds per treatment, represented as T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 respectively, and replicated into 3 of 8 birds per replicate. Water and feed were given ad-libitum.T1 had no Napoleon's hat seed meal and served as the control, T2 had raw NISM,T3 had 30 minutes boiled NISM, T4 had 60 minutes NISM, while T5 had 90 minutes boiled NISM. The result of the study showed significant differences (p<0.05) in all the parameters measured except Basophil, Monocytes and white blood cell. There were also significant differences among the biochemical parameters beside cholesterol, albumin, alkaline phosphate (ALP) and aspartate T 10.05, while Aspartate transaminase (AST). Packed cell volume PCV (%) 5 recorded the highest value of 34.35% in Treatment 5 T5 (34.35%), (90 minutes, while the 5) lowest value (33.30) was recorded in T3 33.30, (30 minutes of boiling) Treatment 4 (T 3 4) recorded the highest value of 10.80 g/dL in Hb, while the lowest value was recorded T5 (10.05), while for WBC, the highest value of 248.67 x103/μl was recorded in T WBC and 3 lowest value of 244.07 was recorded in T (60minutes). Urea level reduced with increase in 4 heat treatment, from 4.00 in T4 to 6.70mg/dL in T3, creatinine (mg/dL) and total protein 4 3 followed the same trend as WBC, from 114.70 in T5 to 145.20 in T4 and 0.20 in T5 to 0.30 in T3 , respectively. The result suggests that 10% inclusion of Napoleona imperialis seed meal could be used in broiler feed successful without deleterious