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Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a common monogenic disorder that presents with several clinical features and complications. Inflammation plays a vital role in the pathobiology. Neutrophil- lymphocyte ratio (NLR), plateletneutrophil ratio (PNR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) are fairly new but cheap inflammatory markers. Aim: SCD being an inflammatory disorder, we sought to determine if these markers correlate with SCD severity. Methods: This is a retrospective multicenter study where the socio-demographic and full blood count (FBC) data were collected. The NLR, PLR and PNR were calculated and then correlated with disease severity. Analysis was done using SPSS version 22. Results: A total of 482 SCD patients’ data were analyzed. The majority of them (290, 60.2%) had moderate disease while only 66 of them (13.7%) had severe disease. Hb concentration, WBC (p value 0.00), absolute neutrophil count (ANC) (p value 0.00), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) (p value 0.00) and PNR (p value 0.00) showed a positive correlation with disease severity while platelet count (p value 0.371), PLR (p value 0.124) and NLR (p value 0.105) did not show any significant association with SCD severity score. Hb concentration, PNR and PLR showed significant negative correlation with SCD severity score. Conclusion: The PNR and PLR values decreased with increasing severity score in SCD. These readily available and cheap parameters which are deduced from routine full blood count can be used to predict severity and risk of developing complications in SCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sickle cell disease is the most common genetic hematologic disorder especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Newborn screening (NBS) for sickle cell disease is a tool for early disease detection and treatment. Objective: To report the outcome of newborn screening for sickle cell disease at Abakaliki, Ebonyi state. Setting: Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital (AEFUTHA), Ebonyi State. Design: Retrospective study. Methods: A two- year period data on sociodemographic characteristics, haemoglobin phenotype of 1,165 babies and parents were obtained from the laboratory register. Main Outcome measures: Prevalence of haemoglobin (Hb) phenotypes in newborns, couples’ Hb phenotype compatibility. Statistical analysis: Data were summarized using proportion, mean, median and standard deviation. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used where appropriate. Results: A total of 1,165 newborns were screened for hemoglobin phenotype consisting of 589 (50.4%) males and 572 (47.1%) females. Majority, 856 (73.9%) had haemoglobin (Hb) phenotype AA, 283 (24.4%) had AS, 12 (1.0%) and 6 (0.5%) had SS and AD; respectively while SC and AC were (0.1%) each. Nine (0.9%) of the parents who reported a compatible Hb phenotype had newborns with SS. There was a significant difference in Hb phenotype of the newborns of parents with compatible and those with incompatible Hb phenotypes (p <0.001). Conclusions: The prevalence of SCD (HbSS 1.0% and HbSC 0.1%) is 1.1% among newborns in Ebonyi state. There is a high level of Hb phenotype incompatibility between couples in the state. Public awareness, premarital education and screening of couples are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dyslipidaemia has been implicated in the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease (SCD) complications; hence its role requires further elucidation. Objectives: To investigate the relationship between disease severity and plasma lipid levels of patients with sickle cell anaemia. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used for the survey. A total of 50 patients with sickle cell anaemia and 50 controls without SCD were recruited for the study. The clinical data and plasma lipid levels of lipids and haemoglobin parameters were analysed. Results: The majority of the participants were aged 18-25 years. Total plasma cholesterol and HDL-C were significantly lower in individuals with SCA compared with the controls (3.3±1.2 vs 4.2±1.2; p