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Background: In Nigeria, since 2002, Imatinib mesylate (glivec®) has been available freely to chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients but only at a tertiary health care centre in the southwestern part of the country. Despite this, it is not readily accessible to many patients due to the distance and other challenges including low socioeconomic status and political problems, preventing timely access to specialist care. This study evaluated the effect of the baseline characteristics on the prognostic implication and treatment outcome of CML patients in Nigeria. Method: This study retrospectively evaluated the baseline characteristics, clinical presentations and treatment outcomes of 889 CML patients over 18 years (2002–2020). Of these, 576 (65%) patients had complete information with up-to-date BCR::ABL1 records. These 576 patients were categorized based on their responses to Imatinib therapy into three groups viz.; Optimal response (OR) defined as BCR::ABL1 ratio of < 0.1% or major molecular remission (≥ 3-log reduction of BCR::ABL1 mRNA or BCR::ABL1 ratio of < 0.1% on the International Scale), Suboptimal response (SR) with BCR::ABL ratio of 0.1–1%, and Treatment failure (TF) when MMR has not been achieved at 12 months. The variables were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The result revealed a median age of 37 years at diagnosis with a male-to-female ratio of 1.5:1. The majority (96.8%) of the patients presented with one or more symptoms at diagnosis with a mean symptom duration of 12 ± 10.6 months. The mean Sokal and EUTOS scores were 1.3 ± 0.8 and 73.90 ± 49.09 respectively. About half of the patients presented with high-risk Sokal (49%) and EUTOS (47%) scores. Interestingly, both the Sokal (r = 0.733, p = 0.011) and EUTOS (r = 0.102, p = 0.003) scores correlated positively and significantly with the duration of symptoms at presentation. Based on response categorization, 40.3% had OR while 27.1% and 32.6% had SR and TF respectively. Conclusion: This study observed a low optimal response rate of 40.3% and treatment failure rate of 32.6% in our CML cohort while on first-line Imatinib therapy. This treatment response is strongly attributable to the long duration of symptoms of 12 months or more and high Sokal and EUTOS scores at presentation. We advocate prompt and improved access to specialist care with optimization of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imatinib has been successful in the management of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) but some patients experience adverse reactions or develop resistance to its use. The roles of some polymorphisms in genes encoding enzymes critical for the biotransformation of imatinib have been previously examined. This study, hence, evaluated some other unstudied functionally significant polymorphisms in CYP1A2, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, and CYP3A5. Trough imatinib blood levels and genotypes were determined in 42 CML patients by an HPLC-UV technique and a Sequenom iPLEX assay, respectively. Statistical analysis of the influence of genetic polymorphisms on standardized trough level detected no significant relationship. However, higher trough levels were observed in two homozygous carriers of CYP2C8*2 while diminished imatinib levels were seen in two homozygous carriers of CYP3A5*7. The study findings suggest that polymorphisms in drug metabolizing enzymes may be significant for imatinib therapy only in instances where all copies of the relevant studied genes are functionally impaired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) constitutes a major nutritional concern in developing countries. It contributes significantly to the morbidity and mortality of under-five children and can result in impaired resistance to infection as well as increased risk of death. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of VAD among Southwestern Nigerian children., Methods: Apparently healthy children aged between 6 months and 5 years were recruited for the study. Their serum retinol levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography., Results: Of the 170 children studied, nine (5.3%) had VAD, although none had severe VAD. The prevalence of VAD did not show statistically significant variation with age (P = 0.159), sex (P = 1.000), social class (P = 0.740), immunisation status (P = 0.197) or nutritional status (P = 0.090)., Conclusion: The prevalence of VAD among Nigerian children appears to have reduced, compared with previous reports; however, further studies are required to assess the current national prevalence, so as to design programmes that can achieve further reduction in the proportion of children affected., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest