Effect of Tamsulosin Administration on Oral Glucose Tolerance (OGT) In Normal Wistar Rats.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of administration of tamsulosin on oral glucose tolerance in normal Wistar rats. Forty (40) male albino Wistar rats were selected and divided into four (4) groups of ten (10) rats each, viz, GROUP I, II, III and IV. Group I (Normal control): Distilled water (5ml/kg), Group II (Positive control): Carvedilol(800µg/kg), Group III (Tamsulosin treated): Tamsulosin (12µg/kg), Group IV (Tamsulosin treated): Tamsulosin (40µg/kg).Different treatments of Distilled water, Carvedilol and Tamsulosin were administered once every day orally for the period of six (6) weeks. After the 6th week of the study, all the treatments were withdrawn for a further 2 weeks (7th and 8th weeks). The Animals underwent 8 hours fasting. OGTT was done at baseline (0th), and then at3rd, 6th, 7thand 8th weeks. The blood glucose of all the animals was measured via tip tail incision at 0hours (pre-glucose load). Then, 2g/kg of D(+)-glucose powder dissolved in distilled water was administered to all the animals orally; after which blood samples were measured via tail tip incision at 30, 60 and 120 minutes using standard glucometer. ANOVA and Tukey Kramer post hoc test was used. The results were revealed therein. At the baseline of the study, 2nd, 3rd week, the groups of rats treated with carvedilol (positive control),tamsulosin high dose (40µg/kg) or low dose (12µg/kg) did not show any significant difference (P>0.05) in total area under the oral glucose tolerance curve compared to the normal control group and other inter group comparison. At the 6th week of the study, the group of rats treated with carvedilol (positive control), tamsulosin low dose (12µg/kg) and tamsulosin high dose (40µg/kg) revealed significantly higher values (P<0.05) of total area under the oral glucose tolerance curve compared to the normal control group. Other inter-group comparisons were not significantly different (P>0.05). At the 7th week of the study, the group of rats treated with carvedilol (positive control), tamsulosin low dose (12µg/kg) and tamsulosin high dose (40µg/kg) revealed no significant differences (P>0.05) in total area under the oral glucose tolerance curve compared to normal control group and other inter-groups comparison. At the 8th week of the study (two weeks after treatments withdrawal), only group of rats treated with carvedilol (positive control) revealed a significant higher values (P<0.05) of total area under the oral glucose tolerance curve than the normal control group. Other inter-group comparisons were not significantly different. The current study revealed that tamsulosin affects the glucose tolerance of the Wistar rats, thereby causing hyperglycemia.

Geophagic clay materials from Nigeria: a potential source of heavy metals and human health implications in mostly women and children who practice it.

Geophagy is a common practice among certain cultural groups especially women in some rural communities in Nigeria. The safety of eating such clays in terms of their heavy metal composition has not been ascertained, neither is the link between them and disease conditions established in geophagists. The analysis of field survey data reveals that the majority (about 90 %) of the women did not go beyond secondary school education. The geology of an area has a direct influence on the chemical composition of the soils. Therefore, this research was carried out to determine the mineralogical and the heavy metal content of some geophagic clay materials from Nigeria. All the geophagic clay materials are hydrated silicates of either Al, (Na and Ca), (Al and Mg), or/and (Mg and Fe). The concentration levels of Na, Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Cu, and Zn are tolerable and apparently could serve as a veritable source of mineral nutrients deficient in the human body. An assessment of the level of contamination of heavy metals on the basis of the index of geo-accumulation (I(geo)) shows that Cr, Cu, Zn, Co, and Ni (all with I(geo) < 1) did not contaminate the clay materials. On the contrary, they are extremely contaminated by As, Cd and Se (I(geo) = >5), and are moderately to strongly contaminated by Pb and Sb (I (geo) = 2-3). In terms of health risk assessment, the presence of heavy metals such as As, Cd, Pb, Se, and Sb with a health risk index (HRI) >1, renders the geophagic clays unsafe for human consumption. Similarly, Al, Fe, and Na are in excess in the clay (HRI ⋙ 1) posing serious human health risks. Thus, the ingestion of geophagic clay materials by pregnant women and children when it contains heavy metals like Pb, As, Cd, Se, and Sb poses the risk of some medical disorders and should therefore be considered a public health problem. Since geophagic practice will persist despite civilization, we advocate finding ways of reducing heavy metal pollutants in geophagic clays through suitable remediation technology.

Bacterial isolates associated with pelvic inflammatory disease among female patients attending some hospitals in abuja, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Pelvic inflammatory disease refers to any infection in the female lower reproductive tract that spreads to the upper reproductive tract. The disease comprises a spectrum of inflammatory disorders of the upper female genital tract, including any combination of endometritis, salpingitis, tubo-ovarian abscess and pelvic peritonitis. PID is not a notifiable disease in most countries, so accurate statistics are not available. This situation is not in any way different here in Nigeria and more so in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja where this research was conducted, there had never been any published report so far on PID. It therefore became pertinent that such studies be carried out to evaluate the bacterial organisms which may be associated with the disease in this part of Nigeria so that health care providers could take a better look at this affliction in women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Endocervical swabs totalling 100 were aseptically collected from patients with confirmed Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), attending some hospitals in Abuja, Nigeria for detection of bacterial pathogens based on cultural and biochemical characterisation tests. Antibiogram was also conducted on the identified bacterial isolates. RESULTS: Out of the 100 samples analysed, 43% yielded pure cultures of bacterial isolates, 2% yielded mixed cultures while no bacterial growths were recorded from the remaining 55% samples. Organisms encountered were Staphylococcus aureus (16%), Escherichia coli (10%), Streptococcus faecalis (8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4%), Streptococcus pyogenes (3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (3%), Proteus rettgeri (2%) and Proteus mirabilis (1%). The highest percentage occurrence of pathogenic isolates was observed in polygamous married patients (90%). The age group most affected falls within the mean age 30.5 years (68%) while the least affected group falls within the mean age 40.5 years (5%). There was a significant difference in the acquisition of PID in relation to marital status (P < 0.05). However there was no significant difference in the acquisition of the disease with respect to age (P > 0.05). Antibiogram patterns of pathogenic isolates revealed varied resistance to most of the antibiotics employed. Cefotaxime (a new generation cephalosporin antibiotic) was established in this study as the best antimicrobial agent for treatment of PID due to Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria isolated from the women examined. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, Pelvic inflammatory disease is a major health problem in developed or developing countries of the world. PID is not a notifiable disease, as accurate statistics on disease prevalence are rarely available. There is therefore no doubt thousands of young women have salpingitis every year and their sheer number makes it an important health problem. PID hence can be said to be a very serious complication of sexually transmitted disease which should be critically and promptly handled by healthcare providers. The right type sample should be aseptically collected and be appropriately handled for laboratory investigation. Treatment of PID should be initiated as soon as the presumptive diagnosis has been made. Immediate administration of antibiotics has been effective in the long-term sequelae associated with PID, especially new generation antibiotics, such as cefotaxime as recorded in this study.