Background: Sickle cell disease is a common genetic disorder mainly characterized by vascular occlusion and haemolysis and it constitutes a major public health problem. The aim of this study is to assess the serum electrolyte levels in sickle cell patients attending the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. Materials and methodology: A total of 66 subjects, ages 18 – 40 years, were recruited for this study with thirty sickle cell subjects (female = 16, Male = 14) as test subjects and thirty non-sickle cell subjects (female = 21, male = 9) as control subjects. A total of 5mls of venous blood was collected from each subject. The serum obtained from each sample was analyzed for serum electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride, and bicarbonate) by potentiometry using a sensacore autoanalyzer. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. Results: Anthropometric results obtained from this study showed a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in mean ± SD of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and body mass index (BMI) in the test subjects compared to the control subjects respectively. The electrolyte analyses showed a significant increase (P < 0.05) in mean ± SD of potassium and chloride in the test subjects compared to the control subjects respectively. The control subjects have a non-significant increase (P > 0.05) mean ± SD of sodium compared to the sickle cell subjects while the sickle cell subject has a non-significant increase (P > 0.05) mean ± SD of bicarbonate compared to the control subjects. There was a positive correlation between sodium and bicarbonate, while in the other parameters; no significant correlation existed. Conclusion: This study concludes that sickle cell anaemia subjects are predisposed to electrolyte variations, hence, the need to check these electrolyte values in sickle cell subjects.

The blood level of C-reactive protein (CRP) has been postulated to increase in hypertensive patients but has not been implicated as a risk factor for high blood pressure. This prompted this study to investigate the level of CRP of hypertensive patients at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku-Ozalla, and Enugu state. Eighty-nine subjects of which 50 were hypertensive patients (test subjects) and 39 apparently healthy individuals (control subjects) volunteered in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to capture the bio-data and other vital information from the participants of which virtually all the test subjects were on anti-hypertensive drugs. Anthropometric measurements were taken, blood samples were collected and CRP was analyzed using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay method. Data were analyzed using the student's test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). There was no significant statistical difference (P>0.05) in CRP levels (µg/ml) in all the comparisons; that is between all male and female study populations (401-478 and 3.61-4.24), between tests and controls (3.62-3.85 and 4.06-526), between male tests and male controls (3.76-3.55 and 4.24-5.80), between female tests and female control (3.62 ±3.85 and 3.76-3.55) between male tests and female tests (3.50-414 and 381-4.531, and between male controls and female controls (4.24 ±5.80 and 3.81-4.55). It was also observed that there was no relationship between the duration of hypertension with the CRP levels in the test subjects. These results suggest that the C-reactive protein levels may be increased in hypertensive patients but may be decreased by antihypertensive therapies. More studies are needed and these findings warrant further evaluation in randomized trials. A longitudinal study to fully assess the effect of antihypertensive drugs on the level of C-reactive protein in hypertensive patients may also be of great essence.

Medicinal plants have shown to possess some biologically active constituents that have significant effects in human. This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of Goko Cleanser (herbal mixture) on the kidney of albino Wistar rats. Phytochemical analysis of the herbal mixture was done. A total of twenty-five animals weighing 150 g – 200 g were used. The rats were randomly selected into five groups of five (5) experimental rats. The groups were classified as A-E, and graded dosage of the herbal mixture administration was done. Group A served as normal control group and received no herbal mixture, group B received 1000 mg/kg of the herbal mixture, group C received 2000 mg/kg of the herbal mixture, group D received 3000 mg/kg and group E received 4000 mg/kg. The results show that Goko Cleanser herbal mixture contains tannin, saponin and flavonoids as its phytochemical constituents. The creatinine level had a significant (P<0.05) increase in test groups D and E when compared to the control group; while in groups B and C, there was no significant increase (P>0.05) when compared to the control group. The urea and potassium levels also had significant increases (P>0.05) in the test groups D and E when compared to the control group. Results of histopathological analysis showed a concomitance with the biochemical findings. Hence, the results from this study show that Goko Cleanser herbal mixture possesses dose-dependent toxic effect on the kidney.