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Biomedical subjects

I I Onyewotu

Publications and source records attributed to I I Onyewotu.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Has lack of vitamin C any role in the aetiology of tropical pyomyositis?

The plasma concentration of vitamin C of 14 patients with tropical pyomyositis without clinical evidence of scurvy and that of II age and sex-matched controls was determined in order to ascertain whether or not there was a deficiency of the vitamin in this condition. The results show that the mean plasma concentrations of vitamin C of patients were slightly higher (15.9 +/- 6.4 g/l) than those of controls (12.0 +/- 4.5 g/l). The differences, however, were not statistically significant (P greater than 0.25). It is therefore concluded that lack of vitamin C does not play a part in the aetiology of tropical pyomyositis.

Ascorbic Acid↗
PubMed1982

Endotoxaemia in Vibrio El Tor cholera.

Endotoxaemia and endotoxin-induced changes were sought in Nigerian patients presenting with cholera/diarrhoea. The organism was Vibrio cholerae, bio-type El Tor, serotype Hikojima. The limulus amoebocyte lysate gelation test was used qualitatively by the clot method, whilst a spectrophotometric method was used quantitatively to measure endotoxin levels. 25 acutely ill patients tested had detectable endotoxaemia by the Escherichia coli endotoxin standard. The highest endotoxin level was found in a patient with sub-conjunctival haemorrhage. Changes in platelet counts, the detection of complement breakdown product C3d in plasma, the elevation of fibrin degradation products, the finding of elevated, normal or depressed C3 levels and the absence of circulating immune complexes, suggest a pathogenic role for endotoxin in Vibrio cholerae El Tor diarrhoea.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1978

Immune complexes in healthy Nigerians.

Sera from 50 healthy Caucasians resident in Britain and 50 healthy Nigerians living aroung Zaria in Northern Nigeria were tested for the presence of circulating immune complexes by three different methods. Immune complexes could not be detected in the Caucasian sera but wer present in the Nigerian sera. However, only six of the 38 sera positive for complexes by the radio-bioassay method had significant anti-complementary activity. Examination of blood films from all six subjects showed malarial parasitaemia in five. The mean IgM level of the six anti-complementary sera was significantly higher than in the remaining 44 sera. After six weeks of malarial prophylaxis, sera from four of these subjects lost their anti-complementary activity and there was a parallel fall in the serum IgM values, suggesting that complexes related to malaria may have been present originally. Tests for detecting circulating immune complexes which fix complement may be useful in identifying clinically significant infections in apparently healthy Nigerians.

Antigen-Antibody Complex↗
PubMed1978

Circulating immune complexes and complement levels in relation to the clinical presentation of Nigerian children with acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis.

Circulating immune complexes have been detected in the sera of 24 Nigerian children with acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis using two methods. There was a significant correlation between levels of soluble complexes, detected in samples taken from patients in the oliguric phase of acute nephritis, and severity of disease, as judged by blood urea levels. Serial estimation of immune complexes was more useful than serial C3 estimation in predicting the onset of anuria in two patients admitted with mild disease who subsequently deteriorated. With one exception, C4 values were normal. Factor B levels were low in 90% of cases, in keeping with activation of the alternate complement pathway.

Antigen-Antibody Complex↗
PubMed1978

Cryoglobulinaemia and circulating immune complexes in tropical splenomegaly syndrome.

Large amounts of cryoglobulins and soluble immune complexes were detected in the sera of thirteen patients with tropical spenomegaly syndrome (TSS). Complexes were detected by three different methods: radiobioassay, a modified rheumatoid factor-binding activity method and a modified Clq-binding assay. Protein precipitable by 4% polyethylene glycol (PEG) was also measured. The cryoglobulins contained IgM, IgG and in some cases, C3. It is likely that in TSS, marked immune complex formation is associated with hypergammaglobulinaemia and that continuous engulfment of these complexes by cells of the reticuloendothelial system (RES) is the cause of the hepatosplenomegaly.

Antigen-Antibody Complex↗
PubMed1977

Comparative study of group A and group C meningococcal infection.

114 patients with meningococcal infection were studied; 72 had group C infection and 42 group A infection. 14 patients had acute meningococcaemia, all of whom had group C infection and 9 of whom died. Clinical and laboratory findings were similar in patients with meningitis due to a group A and C organisms, but arthritis and cutaneous vasculitis were more common in patients with group C infection. The overall mortality was 22% in patients with group C infection, and 12% in patients with group A infection, but was the same in both groups when cases of acute meningococcaemia are excluded.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Complement and meningococcal infection.

Serum C3 levels were measured in 211 patients with meningococcal disease. Low levels were found in 13 patients with acute meningococcaemia, and complement activation may have contributed to the peripheral circulatory collapse that was responsible for nine deaths. The complement profile of these patients suggested activation of both classical and alternative complement pathways. Patients with meningitis had a higher mean serum C3 level than controls. Serial studies in 13 serum antigen-positive patients with meningitis who subsequently developed arthritis or cutaneous vasculitis showed a transient fall in serum C3 in eight. This fall was probably due to the formation of immune complexes that were responsible for their allergic complications.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Enhanced uptake by guinea-pig macrophages of radio-iodinated human aggregated immunoglobulin G in the presence of sera from rheumatoid patients with cutaneous vasculitis.

A competitive radiobioassay method for soluble immune complexes in sera has been used to study sera from patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Twenty-eight out of sixty-two sera from selected seropositive rheumatoid patients were found to produce enhanced uptake of radio-iodinated human aggregated IgG by guinea-pig macrophages in contrast with the inhibition of uptake seen with SLE sera. Twenty-two out of the twenty-eight enhancing sera belonged to patients with cutaneous vasculitis. None of the twenty-two sera from seronegative rheumatoid patients possessed enhancing properties and none of these patients had clinical evidence of vasculitis. Three patients with seropositive SLE had sera with enhancing properties and had cutaneous vasculitis. We have shown that the enhancement is probably due to the presence in sera of immune complexes or altered IgG bound to rheumatoid factor. The possible mechanism has been investigated and it appears that there is increased binding of radio-iodinated aggregated IgG to free valencies on rheumatoid factor already bound to immune complexes.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Felty's syndrome in a Nigerian.

The first case of Felty's syndrome to be reported in a Nigerian, a fifty five-year-old woman who developed splenomegaly and leukopenia during the course of strongly seropositive rheumatoid arthritis of ten years duration is presented. her arthritis had lasted for about ten years, but she did not have the severe deforming disease known to be associated with Felty's syndrome. Radiologically there were no erosions and subcutaneous nodules were absent. She had a positive granulocyte specific anti-nuclear factor, cryoglobulins containing IgA and IgM and her polymorph-nuclear granulocytes showed evidence of impaired killing of staphylococci.

Felty Syndrome↗
PubMedDate not supplied

T cell lymphopenia in Nigerians with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Lymphocyte sub-populations were studied in 26 Nigerian patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PLCC) and in 12 normal controls. The 3H-thymidine incorporation of lymphocytes from patients and controls was also studied on phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation. Total mean lymphocyte and B-cell lymphocyte counts were not different between patients and controls. The mean T cell percentages and absolute counts were significantly lower in patients than in controls. There was a significant elevation of null cell numbers and percentage in PLCC patients. Lymphocytes from patients and controls gave similar response on PHA stimulation.

Adult↗