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Background: Both metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) and the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System (RAAS) are predictors of adverse outcomes in stroke patients. This study aimed at evaluating the association between RAAS and MetSyn among ischaemic stroke subjects in a tertiary hospital of Ghana from September 2015 to June 2016. Methodology: The study purposively recruited 252 Ghanaians comprising 132 ischaemic stroke patients and 120 apparently healthy control subjects. The participants were subjected to measurements of plasma renin, serum aldosterone, lipid profile, anthropometries and blood pressure. Results: MetSyn prevalence among the stroke subjects compared to the controls were 50.0% vs 8.3% (NCEP/ATP III), 71.2% vs 9.2 (IDF) and 71.2% vs 6.7% (H_MS). Both renin and aldosterone were significantly (p 3) aldosterone (aOR = 2.7, p = 0.008), obesity (aOR = 11.7, p = 0.004) and high triglyceride (aOR = 5.3, p p = 0.742) were independently associated with increasing odds of metabolic syndrome. Moreover, there was a significant (p p

Background: One of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases is lipid abnormalities. Objective: To determine the mean lipid levels and the prevalence of lipid disorders among patients attending outpatient clinics in Banjul, The Gambia. Design: Cro...

Introduction: Sports anaemia is a physiological activity that occurs amongst footballers and may be due to poor diet, over-training, as well as an increase in plasma volume in endurance training activities. High plasma volume leads to changes in haematological parameters that may impact on endurance of footballers. The objective of the study was to determine the correlation between haematological and an-thropometric indices and their role in sports anaemia in a tropical setting. Methods: Venous blood was taken into EDTA for 12 soccer players of KNUST soccer team before training and after training for the first (W1) and fifth (W5) weeks of training sessions. Complete blood count analysis was done for each blood sample and anthropometric parameters such as height, weight, body mass index, body fat percent and lean body mass were also measured. Cross-tabulations with mean and standard deviation or median and range were computed. Paired t-test & and Mann-Whitney test for parametric and non-parametric data computations were carried out and a p-value ≤ 0.05 was taken to rep-resent significant difference between data groups. Results: There was significant reduction in haemoglobin (p =0.003), haematocrit (p =0.002), mean cell volume (MCV) (p =0.034) and red blood cell (RBC) count (p=0.011) as a result of a significant expansion of plasma volume (p= 0.006). Neutrophil, lymphocyte and eosinophil counts were reduced significantly (p= 0.043, 0.001 and 0.007, respectively) after the training at W5. Lean body mass (LBM) inversely correlated with haemoglobin (r= -0.787, p= 0.002) and haematocrit (r= -0.588, p= 0.044). Body fat percentage (BFP) also negatively correlated with lymphocyte count (r= -0.700, p= 0.011). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between body mass index (BMI) and plasma volume change after the training programme (r=0.689, p= 0.013). Conclusion: The results suggest that sports anaemia was induced by an increase in plasma volume that resulted in changes in haematological parameters.Pan African Medical Journal 2016; 24

Signalling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM) F7 is found on the surface of some immune cells including B-lymphocytes. Its activation leads to the proliferation or differentiation of immune cells. The objectives of the study were to measure SLAMF7 expression levels on B-CLL cells, and to upregulate the expression of SLAMF7 with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) and Bryostatin. The levels of expression of SLAMF7 receptors of B-CLL cells from patients were measured; using immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The effects of treatments with PMA and Bryostatin were determined from different patients. Different levels of SLAMF7 expression were found to be associated with B-CLL cells from different patients. PMA treatment of B-CLL cells showed more positive SLAMF7 staining with the majority of the extracted B-CLL cell cases, while less positive results were associated with Bryostatin treatment. The study has shown that both PMA and Bryostatin could upregulate SLAMF7. Successful modulation of SLAMF7 expression may provide a novel target for the treatment of patients with CLL. Keywords : SLAMF7, RT PCR, Elotuzumab, Bryostatin, PMA

Objective To determine the association between left ventricular hypertrophy and insulin resistance in Gambians. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Outpatient clinics of Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital and Medical Research Council Laboratories in Banjul. Participants Three hundred and sixteen consecutive patients were enrolled from outpatient clinics. The data of 275 participants (89 males) were included in the analysis with a mean (± standard deviation) age of 53.7 (±11.9) years. Interventions A questionnaire was filled and anthropometric measurements were taken. 2-D guided M-mode echocardiography, standard 12-1ead electrocardiogram, fasting insulin and the oral glucose tolerance test were performed. Main Outcome Measures The Penn formula was used to determine the left ventricular mass index, 125 g/m2 in males and 110 g/m2 in females as the cut-off for left ventricular hypertrophy. Using the fasting insulin and fasting glucose levels, the insulin resistance was estimated by the homeostatic model assessment formula. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between left ventricular hypertrophy and insulin resistance. Results The mean Penn left ventricular mass index was 119.5 (±54.3) and the prevalence of Penn left ventricular mass index left ventricular hypertrophy was 41%. The mean fasting glucose was 5.6 (±2.5) mmol/l, fasting insulin was 6.39 (±5.49) μU/ml and insulin resistance was 1.58 (±1.45). There was no association between Penn left ventricular mass index left ventricular hypertrophy and log of insulin resistance in univariate (OR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.80 – 1.19, p = 0.819) and multivariate logistic regression (OR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.76–1.15, p = 0.516) analysis. Conclusion No association was found in this study between left ventricular hypertrophy and insulin resistance in Gambians and this does not support the suggestion that insulin is an independent determinant of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensives.

Background The link between type 1 diabetes and thyroid autoimmunity is well described. The same cannot be said for type 2 diabetes where results have been mixed so far. We investigated the prevalence and determinants of thyroid autoimmunity among Ghanaian type 2 diabetes patients. Methods This was a case-control study involving 302 type 2 diabetes patients and 310 non - diabetic controls aged 40–80 years. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurements were obtained. Fasting samples were analyzed for glucose, thyroid function, and antibodies to thyroglobulin and thyroid peroxidase. Results The prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity was significantly higher among T2DM subjects (12.2% vs. 3.9%, p = 0.0004). Among T2DM subjects, 44 (14.7%) tested positive for TPOAb, 5 (1.7%) tested positive for TGAb and 15 (5.0%) tested positive for both autoantibodies. Females T2DM subjects showed a 3-fold increased risk of thyroid autoimmunity compared to males (OR:3.16, p =0.004), T2DM subjects with hyperthyroidism had a 41% increased risk of thyroid autoimmunity (OR: 1.41, p