Asian Journal of Research in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Background: Acetaminophen toxicity is one of the widespread causes of both planned and unplanned health related issues in the world today. It is a familiar cause of liver and kidney damage particularly in adolescents and children.

Aims: With the growing focus in the mitigating and therapeutic roles of herbal drugs in toxicity studies, it is perceptible to investigate the comparative, prophylactic and curative effect of the ginger supplement on acetaminophen-induced liver and kidney damage using wistar rats as model. Methodology:

Study Design: Twenty (20) adult male wistar rats weighing185 g-220 g was obtained from animal house of the department of Pharmacology University of Port Harcourt were divided into four groups having five rats each. 

Methodology: Twenty adult wistar rats were divided into four (4) groups of five animals each and treated orally as follows: Group A (normal control) received distilled water (7days), group B received 1000mg/kg acetaminophen (APAP) (2 days). Group C Ginger (GINE+APAP) received ginger supplements 500mg/kg respectively one hour before administration of APAP for 7 days, whereas group D received APAP (2 days) followed by 500mg/kg Ginger for 5 days (APAP+GINE). At the end of the experiment, animals from different groups were anaesthesized, blood samples collected, liver and kidney tissues dissected and subjected to different biochemical, antioxidants, and histopathological test.

Statistical: Analysis was done using One Way Anova and Tukey’s Post-hoc Test. 

Results: APAP caused significant (P<0.05) decrease in creatinine with significant (P<0.01) increase and decrease in liver enzymes and hepatic catalase levels respectively in relation to normal control. Treatment of rats with the ginger supplements attenuated the elevated liver and kidney biochemistry, histopathological alterations by APAP treatment.

Conclusively: The extracts demonstrated therapeutic ability and the herbal drugs may be more effective when use prophylactically than curatively. Further research work is needed to validate the finding.

Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is the most common cause of acquired thrombocytopenia in children. Approximately 10-20% of children with Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) suffer from a chronic clinical disease that requires follow up and medical intervention according to the severity of bleeding manifestation.

Aims: To evaluate the demographic, clinical, and laboratory features, treatment modalities, and response to therapy in Libyan children with chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenia.

Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at the hematology clinic of the pediatric department, Benghazi medical center, and Benghazi Children Hospital. The duration of the study was from January 1998 to December 2018. comprised of demographics, clinical, laboratory data, therapy and therapy response in Libyan chronic ITP.

Results: In our study, the mean age of chronic ITP patients was 4.9 years, slightly higher in male patients 43 (52.4%) With a male/female ratio 1.1:1. The most frequent symptoms were mild   which were limited to bruises and petechiae on the skin. (57.3%). The preceding history of viral infection was uncommon in patients with chronic ITP (22%) while the past history of MMR vaccination is quite rare and constituted only (2%). The mean platelet count before treatment (i.e. at presentation) was (22.7x109/L) while mean platelet count after treatment (213.6 x109/L. Treatment consisted of combined Steroid + IVIG in 27 (77.1% response), steroids in 23 (73.9% response), intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in 11 (90.9% response), and no therapy in 21 (95.2% response).Complete response was achieved in 82.9% % showed a complete response either spontaneous or following the treatment. No patient was presented with intracranial hemorrhage.

Conclusions: Chronic ITP in Libyan children had a benign nature, none of our patients developed severe symptoms as life-threatening bleeding like CNS bleeding or died, IVIG give more optimistic response as compare to steroid. And the majority of children with chronic ITP in this study achieved remission.

Background: Though most pregnant women tend to deliver around their expected date of confinement, quite a significant number deliver preterm and postterm.  The variation of delivery timing can result from obstetrics complications, genetic or demographic factors.

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the influence of demographic factors of pregnant Ijaw women on gestational age at delivery, like: maternal age, parity, occupation, educational level, gestational age at booking, maternal height, and body mass index, on gestational age at delivery. It also intends to determine the effects of birth weight and fetal sex.

Materials and Methods: It was an observational cross-sectional study of 1484 booked pregnant women of Ijaw ethnic group, who delivered in the labour ward of the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital. Their case notes were retrieved and relevant information such as maternal age, parity, educational level, and occupation was obtained. Others include maternal height and weight at booking, gestational age at booking, gestational age at delivery and birth weight. Body mass index was calculated from height and weight and categorized. Data was analyzed with Chi square, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, simple linear regression, and multivariate analysis

Results: The prevalence of preterm birth (PTB) among Ijaw women was 9.7%, and the prevalence of PTB was significantly associated with underweight, Odd ratio = 7.79[3.12, 19.50], low educational level, Odd ratio =2.27[1.40, 3.68], and late booking for antenatal care P = 0.004. Delivery postterm was significantly associated with class 1 obesity, Odd ratio =16.0[4, 59, 55.8], and delivery of male babies Odds ratio = 6.76[2.41, 18.96].

Demographic factors from multivariate analysis could only account for 15.9% of the factors responsible for gestational age at delivery, of which the most important were birth weight, educational level and maternal height at booking.

Conclusion: Though maternal and fetal demographic factors significantly affects birth weight, the bulk of the determinants (84.1%) are outside these factors, and it could be from obstetrics, genetic, or other factors.

Aim: This present study was carried out to ascertain the influences of ABO and Rhesus blood groups on blood pressure and hypertension among normotensive and hypertensive patients attending cardiologic clinic in Niger delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State Nigeria.

Study Design: Cross sectional study design was adopted.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in the Cardiology Clinics in the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital (NDUTH), Okolobiri, Bayelsa State, from February 2020 to November 2020.

Methodology: This study was carried out on 800 participants, consisting of 400 each of apparently healthy Normotensive and Hypertensive individuals. The blood pressures were determined using palpatory and auscultatory (stethoscope and sphygmomanometer) method in both control and hypertensive groups and their ABO and Rhesus blood groups were determined using the slide haemagglutination technique. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS statistical software to perform Chi-square test.

Results: The frequency of the various blood groups was A-20.0%, B-16.8%, AB-13.3% and O-50.0% for the normotensive individuals and A-12.0%, B-15.5%, AB-17.8% and O-54.8%, for the hypertensive individuals. The frequency of ABO blood groups in both the normotensive and hypertensive group was therefore found to be O>B>A>AB. The prevalence of blood group O and rhesus O^-ve was found to be  associated with elevated blood pressure and the development of hypertension while prevalence of blood group AB was found to be lowest in the same group, but was not significant statistically (p>0.05). There was no significant difference between systolic and diastolic blood pressure of different blood groups.

Conclusion: Blood group O was found to be the most common blood group in our study. Blood group O^- was also found to be more prone to hypertension. However, there was no statistically significant association between ABO blood groups and Hypertension.

In recent times, fluorosis is gradually becoming a severe problem throughout the globe due to toxic effects of fluoride (F) on plants and animals. Natural geological sources and increased industrialization have contributed greatly to the increasing incidence of fluoride-induced human and animal toxicities. Adverse effects are mainly through the attenuation of antioxidant defense mechanism and chelation of enzymatic cofactors. This present study was carried out to investigate the changes that occur on antioxidants in the brain of male wistar rats after sub-chronic fluoride exposure at varying doses (10 ppm, 20 ppm and 40 ppm). Twenty-four (24) Male Wistar rats with average weight of 120 g were distributed into 4 groups according to dose administration (Control; 10 ppm, 20 ppm and 40 ppm) of 6 animals each. The control groups were given only distilled water while the Test groups were given sodium fluoride at doses mentioned above for 30 days. Overnight fasted animals from each group were sacrificed on the 30^th day and the brain removed for studying the antioxidant activities. Catalase (CAT), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione-s-transferase (GST) were measured from the homogenized brain supernatants. Results showed that CAT and GPx decreased in activity in respect to the dose being applied. Decrease in glutathione peroxidase activity was highest at 20 ppm and 40 ppm while Catalase activity showed a decrease at 10 ppm. Reduced glutathione GSH activity increased in the 10 ppm and 20 ppm but decreased at 40 ppm. Other antioxidant activities measured displayed similar trend with much decrease at higher doses. From our results we can say that fluoride toxicity causes changes in antioxidants level. The implications of these findings are herein discussed.