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Context: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), an effective treatment for human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) results in significant reduction in viral load, increased CD4 cell count and improved quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS. HAART being a life-long treatment increases the propensity for manifesting long-term complications like changes in lipid profile. Aims: This study set out to assess therapy induced lipid profile changes among patients on HAART in Kano North-Western Nigeria. Design: Cross-sectional. Settings: This study was conducted at the HIV clinic of the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: The study group consist of 120 patients on HAART (Group I) and 120 HAART naïve patients (Group II). Results: The mean values of cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) were 4.15 mmol/L ± 1.03, 1.79 mmol/L ± 0.67, 2.79 mmol/L ± 0.98 and 0.99 mmol/L ± 0.28 in Group I, respectively and were statistically significantly higher than 3.50 mmol/L ± 0.94, 1.21 mmol/L ± 0.55, 1.13 mmol/L ± 0.45 and 0.91 mmol/L ± 0.30 in Group II (P < 0.05). The prevalence of dyslipidaemia was high total cholesterol in Group I (25%) Group II (7.5%): high TG in Group I (30%) > Group II (7.5%): High LDLC in Group I (30%) > Group II (17.5%) low HDLC in Group II (40%) > Group I (35%). The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia was 43% in the protease inhibitor (PI) based and 16.7% in 'the non-PI based groups respectively. Conclusions: This study confirms the existence of artherogenic lipid profile in patients on HAART (especially those on PI-based regimen) and further underscores the importance of close monitoring to prevent cardiovascular complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Severe acute symptomatic hypocalcemia, requiring emergency medical intervention, is a significant but poorly understood condition with high morbidity. In our setting, patients present to emergency rooms with painful carpo-pedal spasms that last for several hours, sometimes mimicking seizure disorders. Metabolomics and genetic profiling are innovative approaches that pinpoint molecular and genetic determinants of hypocalcemia risk which can be adopted to guide treatment in our population., Objective: To determine the prevalence of hypocalcemia in urban Kano as a preliminary step towards identifying key risk factors., Methods: We obtained retrospective data from patients who presented to a tertiary hospital between January and December 2023. Serum calcium levels were measured on Abbott Architect c4000 autoanalyzer. We analyzed data using R statistical software (version 4.3.2). Chi-square tests were used to assess significant differences (p < 0.05)., Results: A total of 1,270 samples were analyzed, consisting of 59.3% (n = 753) males, their mean age was 36.2 ± 4 years. Mean serum calcium levels were 2.05 ± 0.34 mmol/L to 2.11 ± 1.00 mmol/L. Overall prevalence of hypocalcemia (serum calcium < 2.2 mmol/L) was 52.2%. Females exhibited a significantly higher prevalence (58.8%) compared to males (p = 0.03). The highest prevalence was observed in the 40-59-year age group (p < 0.01)., Conclusion: Hypocalcemia is highly prevalent in our population emphasizing the need for innovative approaches to better understand the genetic predictors, enable early intervention and prevent the long-term complications. These findings also provide a foundation for future multicenter studies and could inform public health policies targeting at risk groups. Keywords: Hypocalcaemia, Risk prediction,Metabolomics, Genetic markers., Competing Interests: The Authors declare that no competing interest exists, (Copyright © 2024 by West African Journal of Medicine.)

Aims: The prospective, multicentre Peripartum Cardiomyopathy in Nigeria (PEACE) registry originally demonstrated a high prevalence of peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) among patients originating from Kano, North-West Nigeria. In a post hoc analysis, we sought to determine if this phenomenon was characterized by a differential case profile and outcome among PPCM cases originating elsewhere., Methods and Results: Overall, 199 (81.6%) of a total 244 PPCM patients were recruited from three sites in Kano, compared with 45 patients (18.4%) from 11 widely dispersed centres across Nigeria. Presence and extent of ventricular myocardial remodelling during follow-up, relative to baseline status, were assessed by echocardiography. During median 17 months follow-up, Kano patients demonstrated significantly better myocardial reverse remodelling than patients from other sites. Overall, 50.6% of patients from Kano versus 28.6% from other regions were asymptomatic (P = 0.029) at study completion, with an accompanying difference in all-cause mortality (17.6% vs. 22.2% respectively, P = 0.523) not reaching statistical significance. Alternatively, 135/191 (84.9%) of Kano patients had selenium deficiency (<70 μg/L), and 46/135 (34.1%) of them received oral selenium supplementation. Critically, those that received selenium supplementation demonstrated better survival (6.5% vs. 21.2%; P = 0.025), but the supplement did not have significant impact on myocardial remodelling., Conclusions: This study has shown important non-racial regional disparities in the clinical features and outcomes of PPCM patients in Nigeria, that might partly be explained by selenium supplementation., (© 2021 The Authors. ESC Heart Failure published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Society of Cardiology.)