Background: Oxidative stress may play an important role in the pathogenesis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). To our knowledge there is paucity of data on the status of oxidative stress biomarkers among PTB patients in Gombe, North-eastern Nigeria. Our study was designed to evaluate the oxidative stress biomarkers in pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Gombe, North-eastern Nigeria. Aims and Objectives: To determine the serum levels of oxidative stress biomarkers among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Gombe metropolis, North-eastern Nigeria and to assess the correlation between the oxidative stress biomarkers in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional comparative study was conducted in a tertiary health care facility with 40 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients on anti-TB drugs treatment (ATT), 40 newly diagnosed PTB patients not yet on anti-TB drugs treatment (ATT-naïve) and 40 age- and sex-marched apparently healthy subjects (controls). Serum total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO) and oxidative stress index (OSI) determined using standard techniques. Data was analysed using INSTAT® (Graph Pad Software Inc., La Jolla, CA, USA). Results: Serum levels of TOS, OSI, MDA and NO were significantly (p ˂ 0.001) increased in PTB patients (ATT and ATT-naïve) when compared with healthy individuals. Serum TAS and body mass index (BMI) were significantly (p ˂ 0.001) decreased in PTB patients when compared with healthy individuals. Serum TOS significantly correlated with serum OSI, MDA and NO in ATT-naïve PTB patients. Conclusion: This study observed an increased oxidative stress biomarkers and decreased total antioxidant status in newly diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis patients and those on treatment. Our findings suggest that antioxidants supplementation and improved nutrition in the management of pulmonary tuberculosis patients may go a long way in preventing the oxidative onslaught and further complications in PTB patients.

Background: Asthma is a common chronic disorder of the airways that is complex and characterized by variable and recurring symptoms. It is characterized by the occurrence of bronchial hyper responsiveness, airflow obstruction and an underlying inflammation. Several studies have proposed the association of vitamin D with increased incidence of asthma symptoms. Aims and Objectives: This study aimed at determining the serum vitamin D status and biochemical parameters among asthmatic children in Sokoto-Nigeria. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 120 subjects including 80 asthmatic children and 40 age-and sex-matched apparently healthy controls from two tertiary Hospitals in Sokoto Metropolis. Serum vitamin D, calcium, parathyroid hormone (PTH), immunoglobulin E (IgE) and magnesium were measured using standard techniques. Results: Mean serum vitamin D and magnesium were significantly (p ˂ 0.05) lower, while serum PTH and IgE were significantly higher (p˂0.001) in asthmatic children than in controls. Vitamin D insufficiency was found to be prevalent among the asthmatic children. There was no significant relationship between the low level of vitamin D and asthma severity. Conclusion: This study observed that, hypovitaminosis D and hypomagnesaemia occurred among asthmatic children, and asthma was more prone in the younger children than in their older counterpart. It is recommended that in order to avoid or limit the rate of children having asthmatic episodes, vitamin D and magnesium supplements should be used in the management of asthmatic children.

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Some researchers have inferred that folic acid is necessary for reproduction and could enhance blood formation. Thus, a Completely Randomized Design Experiment (CRD) was conducted to evaluate the impact of oral administration of folic acid on the semen and haematological characteristics of New Zealand White rabbit bucks. The treatments designated treatment 1 (T1), treatment 2 (T2) and treatment 3 (T3) having 12 rabbits each were replicated 3 times with 4 rabbits per replicate. The ages of the 36 pre-pubertal rabbit bucks were between 2 to 3 months, and weighed approximately 2.56 kg. Three experimental diets were formulated to meet the nutrient requirements of rabbit bucks. Each rabbit buck on T1 were orally administered folic acid at 0.0 mg, T2 2.5mg folic acid and T3 5.0 mg folic, respectively. Data were collected for semen characteristics and haematology from the rabbit bucks. Data collected on different parameters were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results showed that significant increases (p<0.05) were observed on libido, semen pH, spermatozoa progressive motility (67.40-80.20%), spermatozoa live proportion (83.01-94.12%), sperm concentration (112.24-133.80 x106/ml), total number of sperm per ejaculate (50.65-67.66 x106/ml), total viable sperm (291.58-496.69 x109/ml), normal sperm proportion (85.16-91.64%). Also, significant reductions (p<0.05) were observed on the percentage head abnormality of the spermatozoa (3.74-3.18), total abnormality (2.13-0.93), mid-piece abnormality (2.35-0.79), cytoplasmic abnormality (7.17-2.89), and total abnormality (14.84-8.35); while the haematological parameters such as haemoglobin (13.53-14.20g/dl), packed cell volume (33.00-34.96%), white blood cell (6.81-7.80 x103mm3) and the differential white blood cells improved significantly (p<0.05) following the oral administration of folic acids to the rabbit bucks. Thus, the oral administrations of folic acid at 5.0 mg per rabbit buck most significantly improved the semen characteristics, enhanced the overall spermatozoa morphology, reduced sperm cells abnormalities and also improved some haematological parameters of the rabbit bucks.

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