A Systematic Review on Sonographic Evaluation of Renal Size in Apparently Healthy Adults

The normal size of a kidney is variable and is affected by both physiologic and pathological conditions. Since renal size is affected by various factors, it is necessary to establish population specific normative values. Ultrasonography has shown its usefulness as an essential tool in the evaluation of renal size. The study aimed at reviewing published articles in the evaluation of renal size and identifying gaps in order to make recommendation for further studies. All articles included in this review are prospective in design with the smallest sample size used being 100 participants and the largest 4,035 participants. The age of the participants ranged from 13 to 80 years. The overall mean renal size reported in this review ranged from 63±18.1 cm3 to 164.3±38 cm3 for the right kidney and 69.1±25.1 cm3 to 183.3±48.9 cm3 for the left kidney. Six of the reviewed articles reported a statistical significant difference between male and female mean renal size (p<0.05), while two articles revealed no statistical significant difference between male and female mean renal sizes (p>0.05). However, the remaining seven articles did not compare the mean renal size between male and female participants. Seven out of the articles reported a significant positive correlation between kidney dimensions and BMI, while other eight articles did not check the association between kidney dimensions and anthropometric parameters. This review showed only one article out of fifteen used a probability sampling method and only two articles used larger sample size. Eight of the reviewed articles did not perform creatinine clearance test before recruitment of their participants

Effect of varying the concentration of sulphuric acid and ammonium hydroxide on the release of cellulose from isolated cell wall component of corn cob

The scarcity and high price associated with fossil fuel has urged countries to research resources for alternative energy sources. Biofuels like bioethanol produced from lignocellulosic biomass (corn cob) were considered potential alternative. Cellulose composition from isolated cell wall material of corn cobs was investigated under two different pre-treatments using H2SO4 and NH4OH at varying concentrations of 5%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40%. Cell wall not treated acted as control. Colorimetric anthrone-assay followed by absorbance reading at 625nm revealed that glucose is present in reasonable amount in corn cob. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated significant differences among pre-treated compared to untreated (Control) corn cob samples at p≤0.05. Acid pre-treatment showed better glucose yield compared to alkali pre-treatment with results revealing 20% (19.37µg/ml) H2SO4 to be the optimal concentration producing highest glucose yield. The study reveals the potential of corn cob as a lignocellulosic feed stock for biofuel production

Impact of Antiretroviral Drugs on Renal Doppler Indices of Adult Patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome in Sub-Saharan African Population

Background: The use of highly active antiretroviral therapy in the management of patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome has drastically reduced the morbidity and mortality as a result of HIV infections worldwide. However, there have been associated organ toxicities including nephro-toxicity. The main objective of the study was to determine the impact of   antiretroviral drugs on renal Doppler indices of adult patients with HIV/AIDS in a Sub-Saharan Africa population. Materials and Methods: This study design was a prospective cohort conducted from July 2019 to April 2020 in Kano, Nigeria. A purposive sampling method was employed to obtain a sample size of 396 participants. The sampling for the renal RI and PI was performed at the level of the interlober arteries in between the medullary pyramids. Results: Subjects on Zidovudine/Lamivudine/Navirapine regimen had the highest values of resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) (0.66±0.05 and 1.44±0.09). Those on Tenofovir Disoproxil Furamate /Lamivudine /Lopinavir/ritonavir had the lowest values of resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) (0.61±0.01 and 1.38±0.06). There was a statistically significance difference in the mean of the RI and PI between the different groups of the drugs regimens (p=0.000). Conclusion: In this study Zidovudine/Lamivudine/Navirapine regimen had the highest negative impact on RI and PI while Tenofovir Disoproxil Furamate /Lamivudine /Lopinavir/ritonavir had the lowest

Renal Doppler Indices of Normal Adult Individuals and their Correlation with Anthropometric Variables in Kano, Nigeria

Introduction: Doppler ultrasound has been extensively used in renal diseases. Data of the normal renal resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) of normal adult individuals in a population is critical in the diagnosis, prognostics and therapeutic assessments of patients with kidney disease. The study aimed at evaluating the renal Doppler indices of normal adult individuals and their correlation with demographic variables in Kano, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This study design was a prospective cross-sectional conducted in normal adult individuals from July 2019 to April 2020 in the Radiology Department, Aminu of Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria. Stratified and simple random sampling methods were employed in the study and a sample size of 384 participants; 192 males and 192 females were recruited. The Doppler ultrasound was performed on all the participants. An RI value above 0.70 was considered abnormal while PI value above 1.56 was also considered abnormal. The data was analyzed using SPSS Version 22.0. Preset ρ-value (0.05). Results: The mean and the standard deviation of the right and left RI and PI for the males’ participants were 0.60±0.02, 0.59±0.02,  1.26±0.15 and 1.25±0.14. For females’ participants it was 0.59±0.25, 0.59±0.03, 1.17±0.16 and 1.16±0.16. There was statistically significant strong positive correlation between RI and PI with age (r˃6, p=0), there was also statistically significant moderate positive correlation with weight, BMI and BSA (r˃4, p=0). Conclusion: This study has established normative values of RI and PI for adult individuals in Kano, Nigeria. There was a strong positive  correlation between RI and PI with age and moderate positive correlation with weight, BMI and BSA. Keywords: RI, PI, Normal, Adult Individuals&nbsp