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Biomedical subjects

S O Olusi

Publications and source records attributed to S O Olusi.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

Plasma and white blood cell ascorbic acid concentrations in patients with bronchial asthma.

Plasma cholesterol, plasma and white blood cell ascorbic acid concentrations were estimated in 30 untreated, 32 salbutamol-treated patients with bronchial asthma and in 57 normal controls. Treated and untreated asthmatics had significantly higher plasma cholesterol but lower plasma and white cell ascorbic acid levels than normal controls. A negative correlation was found between white cell ascorbic acid level and plasma cholesterol concentration in both treated and untreated asthmatics. These findings are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Effects of cyanogenic agents on reproduction and neonatal development in rats.

A diet consisting of 50% gari (a form of cassava meal) was found to cause no significant biochemical and haematological changes in adult female rats. Although this diet caused a significant increase in their serum thiocyanate levels, there was no corresponding significant increase in the weight of their thyroid glands. The offspring of these rats had significantly lower birth weights and brain weights and never attained the same adult weights as those of the controls. Adult female rats fed a diet consisting entirely of raw cassava had significantly reduced haematological and biochemical indices. This diet also caused an increased incidence of cannibalism and a significant reduction in the frequency of pregnancy, the average number of the litter and the birth weights among these rats. In addition there was an increased incidence of neonatal deaths among the offspring which also had poor development, reduced brain weights and an increased tendency towards biting their litter-mates. Adult female rats fed diets containing 5 and 10 g cyanide/100 g laboratory diet survived for more than 3 months but never became pregnant. They developed enlarged thyroid glands and tumours of the large intestine. The relevance of these findings to the areas of the world where cyanogenic glycosides form the staple diet is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Some observations on the properties of precipitating antibody to Staphylococcus aureus in children with kwashiorkor.

Using three relatively sensitive immunochemical assay procedures, we were unable to detect either precipitating or hemagglutinating antibodies to food antigens in sera from normal and kwashiorkor Nigerian children. However, antibody to Staphylococcus aureus, a common pathogenic bacteria in the tropics, could be detected in the sera of 28 of 30 control children but in only 7 of 30 kwashiorkor cases, suggesting that there is an impairment to specific antibody production in children with malnutrition. Comparative biologic and physicochemical studies carried out on precipitating antibodies to S. aureus isolated from normal and kwashiorkor subjects showed that the antibody from malnourished individuals fixed complement less readily and was deficient in some essential amino acids. These defects might in part explain why children with protein-energy malnutrition are more susceptible to infection in spite of the fact that they have normal serum immunoglobulin concentrations.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1979

Effects of levamisole on the immune responses of experimentally malnourished rats.

Levamisole (Ketrax), and anthelmintic drug commonly used in the tropics, has been found to restore the impaired spontaneous rosette-forming lymphocytes and delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions in experimentally malnourished rats. It, however, has no effects on plaque-forming cells. The drug was also found to reconstitute the histologic integrity of the thymus in malnutrition.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Biochemical assessment of the nutritional state of gravida of different socio-economic classes at the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesha, Nigeria.

Non-pregnant women from the low socio-economic class were found to have significantly lower haemoglobin, plasma transferrin and retinol-binding protein concentrations than those from the upper classes. Pregnancy in these poor women resulted in a further significant lowering of these constituents. Children born to such mothers had significantly lower birthweights and plasma transferrin concentrations. A highly significant positive correlation was found between maternal serum transferrin concentration and birthweight, suggesting that this protein is a sensitive index of nutritional state in pregnancy.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1978

Iron therapy and refeeding in experimentally malnourished rats.

1. Rats suffering from protein-energy malnutrition were found to have low serum iron, low PCV, and low hemoglobin concentrations. 2. Oral iron supplement during the refeeding of these animals caused various types of infection, the severity of which was related to the dose given. 3. A close association between high serum iron, low serum transferrin, and high incidence of bacterial infection was found. 4. A high protein diet without any oral iron supplement was found to raise the PCV and hemoglobin concentration to the same levels as a high protein diet containing 65 mg iron/kg body wt/day, although this dose of iron was sufficient to produce infection in the malnourished rats during refeeding. Speculation Iron supplementation during the treatment of children with protein-energy malnutrition may predispose to bacterial infection, the severity of which depends on the dose of iron given.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Evidence for complement activation following the oral administration of cow's urine concoction in rats.

Oral administration of cow's urine concoction in rats causes the activation of the third complement component in the serum. The product of this activation has some histame-releasing effects and causes a characteristic acute fall in neutrophil and monocyte counts in the peripheral blood which is reversed within four hours. The importance of these observations to the areas of the world where cow's urine concoction is used for the treatment of childhood convulsion is discussed.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1977

A study of enocrine function in protein-energy malnutrition.

Serum concentration of cortisol, growth hormone, thyroxine, thyroid stimulating hormone, follicle stimulating hormone and luteinising hormone, together with triiodothyronine uptake have been measured in Nigerian children with kwashiorkor and marasmus and compared with controls. In both types of malnutrition the cortisol and growth hormone concentrations are raised, whereas those of thyroxine and thyroid stimulating hormone are lowered compared with the controls. Triiodothyronine uptake is lowered in malnutrition but there is no apparent effect on follicle stimulating hormone or luteinising hormone in this age group.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1977

Immunogenicities of haemocyanins from the giant African snail (Achatina fulica) and the keyhole limpet (Megathura crenulata).

1. The immunogenicities of the giant African snail (Achatina fulica) haemocyanin (AFH) and the keyhole limpet (Megathura crenulata) haemocyanin (KLH) were compared by determining their capacities to induce humoral and cell-mediated immune response in rats. 2. KLH was found to be more immunogenic than AFH, and this was attributed to the fact that KLH contains more moieties, and probably more antigenic determinants than AFH. 3. Since AFH was found capable of stimulating both humoral and cell-mediated immunity, it was suggested that it could be used as an antigen for the investigation of immune responses.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Assessment of nutritional status.

This review is a critical evaluation of the various methods of assessing the nutritional state of a community. Greater emphasis has been placed on the more recently developed and highly sensitive immunochemical and immunobiological methods because biochemical and immunological changes occur long before any anthropometric abnormality can be detected. Of the serum proteins the transferrin level would appear to be the most sensitive (and most practical) index of nutritional state. The immunochemical estimation of this protein is therefore recommended in the assessment of nutritional status. When adequate precautions are taken in the handling of specimens complement (C3) levels may also yield valuable information. Of the hormones triiodothyronine (T3) would appear to be the most sensitive as an index of nutritional state. For the rapid monitoring of nutritional programmes it is important that facilitates for these procedures be made as rapidly and widely available as possible.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1976

Effects of early protein-calorie malnutrition on the immune response.

Intrauterine and early postnatal malnutrition caused a marked and protracted weight reduction of the body, spleen, and thymus. The mean body weight of the offspring of the malnourished mothers at weaning was 25 +/- 10 g whereas that of the controls was 75 +/- 20 g. At weaning the mean spleen weight of the malnourished offspring was 0.19 +/- 0.05 g and that of their controls was 0.4 +/- 0.13 g. During refeeding the spleen weight but not the thymus weight of the malnourished offspring caught up with that of the controls after about 70 days. After refeeding for as long as 4 months the thymus weight of the malnourished was still significantly (P less than 0.01) less than that of the corresponding weight-matched controls. Primary and secondary plaque-forming cells (PFC) in both the spleen and thymus of the weanling malnourished offspring were barely detectable whereas spleen of their controls had mean approximate values of 50 x 10(3) primary PFC and 70 x 10(3) secondary PFC. The corresponding values in the control thymus were 20 x 10(2) primary PFC and 8 x 10(2) secondary PFC. After refeeding for 4 months of the weanling malnourished offspring their primary and secondary PFC in the spleen increased to about one-half the level of that in their controls whereas the PFC in the thymus were still barely detectable. On the other hand, mean primary and secondary rosette-forming cells (RFC) in the spleen of the weanling malnourished offspring were less than 1 x 10(3) in comparison to the 80-90 x 10(3) in the controls (P less than 0.001). In the thymus too, mean primary and secondary RFC were also less than 1 x 10(3), whereas the corresponding figure in the controls was 30-50 x 10(3) RFC. After refeeding for 4 months the mean values of both the primary and secondary RFC in the spleen and thymus continued to remain less than 1 x 10(3). Although cell morphology in the spleen of the malnourished offspring had returned to normal appearance after 4 months of refeeding, that of the corresponding thymus had not done so completely. For instance, thymic corticomedullary function had reappeared by this time but thymocytes were still less in number than in the controls. By the 8th postnatal day serum IgG2b allotype became detectable in the control offspring, but it was not until day 20 that this IgG allotype could be detected in the malnourished offspring. IgG2a allotype could be detected in the sera of both the malnourished and control offspring.

Animal Feed↗
PubMed1976

Complement components in children with protein-calorie malnutrition.

Complement components of C1-C9 were estimated in children with protein-calorie malnutrition. The diagnosis of kwashiorkor and marasmus were based on clinical examination, anthropometric measurements and on biochemical estimations. The children were examined clinically and bacteriologically for any evidence of infection. All the complement components except C4 and C5 were significantly lower in children with protein-calorie malnutrition: of all the complement components C3 and C9 were the most severely depressed. C5 was the only complement component that was significantly higher in malnourished children than in normal children. Malnourished children with C-reactive protein in their serum had significantly lower values of C3 and C9 and higher values of C5 than malnourished children without C-reactive protein in their serum. During refeeding C3 was the first complement to show a significant rise. This was followed by C9. There was a fall in C5 concentration while there was no change in C4 concentration. The roles of infection, malnutrition and C-reactive protein on complement depletion are discussed.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1975

Specific protein assays in protein-calorie malnutrition.

Assessment of serum protein concentrations in protein-calorie malnutrition was carried out by two specific immunochemical methods, the Single Radial Immunodiffusion technique and the Automated Immunonephelometric procedure. The correlation coefficient (r) between the two methods was above 0.85 for all the serum proteins assayed. The automated nephelometric assay procedure has the advantages that it is rapid and that a large number of samples can be readily processed. The system in its present form could not be readily used to quantitate proteins such as prealbumin whose serum concentration was less than 50 mg/100 ml. The single radial immunodiffusiton technique gave more consitent results for IgA estimation than the automated technique. With the exception of C4 and the immunoglobulins, all the serum proteins assayed were lower in children with protein-calorie malnutrition than in control children. During refeeding in children with protein-calorie malnutrition the first serum protein to show a significant rise was C3. This was followed by transferin, then prealbumin and lastly albumin. C4 did not show any significant change. In experimental protein-calorie malnutrition in rats, the first serum protein to show a significant reduction was C3. This was followed by transferrin and then albumin. On refeeding the rats these serum proteins returned to normal values in the same order.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Acute phase proteins in children with protein-calorie malnutrition.

The serum concentrations of the acute phase proteins, C-reactive protein, caeruloplasmin and haptoglobin were significantly higher in children with protein-calorie malnutrition than in age-matched controls, while the concentrations of alpha1 antitrypsin, alpha2 macroglobulin, transferrin and complement component C3 were significantly lower. During rehabilitation and treatment with antibiotics, C-reactive protein disappeared from the serum in most of the patients whilst the levels of caeruloplasmin and haptoglobin returned to normal values. On the other hand the serum concentration of alpha1 antitrypsin, alpha2 macroglobulin, transferrin and C3 showed significant increases. It is suggested that C-reactive protein and haptoglobin may provide useful indices of the presence or absence of infection in children with malnutrition.

Blood Proteins↗