H.B. OSADOLOR

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has presented a major threat to public health worldwide. COVID-19 is the result of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that was first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China on December 2019. It is highly contagious and transmission is via respiratory droplets and direct contact. There are no specific antiviral measures available to treat COVID-19 but there are several treatment options that could be pursued as first-line therapy for COVID-19 which is the repurposing of drugs like Chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, zinc, selenium, lopinavir/ritonavir and ivermectin. The aim of this project was to evaluate and monitor the adverse effects of the recommended drugs for the treatment of COVID 19 in the liver Proteins of Wistar rats. 60 rats were used for this study and the parameters that was assayed for was albumin, total protein, direct bilirubin and total bilirubin. Albumin was analysed using bromocresol green reagent, total protein was analysed using biuret reagent, and bilirubin by Evelyn and Malloy's method. The data generated were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 (IBM Inc. USA). The results showed that the Albumin of animals treated with Combination 7(2.93±0.14), Combination 8 (3.10±0.15) and combination 9 (3.08±0.15) were significantly lower than that of the control (4.17±0.18) (p<0.05). There was significant difference in direct bilirubin of experimental animals across most treated groups (p<0.05). It also showed that total bilirubin was significantly higher (p<0.05) in animals treated with ivermectin (0.93±0.10) and Lopinavir-ritonavir (0.92±0.06) when compared to control (0.47±0.07), and Total protein was significantly higher (p<0.05) in animals treated with ivermectin (8.62±0.45) when compared to control (7.02±0.22). In conclusion, the administration of these drugs adversely affected the synthetic and excretory functions of the liver. Regular assessment of liver function parameters, including albumin, total bilirubin, and total protein levels should be made compulsory in patients receiving COVID-19 drugs.

Aging men with low plasma Testosterone concentration could be at risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD): a leading cause of one third of deaths worldwide. Dislipidaemia, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity are the major risk factors that cause CVD. Of these risk factors, dyslipidaemia which is described as elevated plasma concentration of lipids is the major risk factor and predictor of CVD. The major plasma lipids are Cholesterol (TC), Triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL- C) and Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and they have all been incriminated as aetiological factors in cardiovascular diseases. This study was conducted to determine the relationship between plasma total testosterone and atherogenic lipid profile in predicting cardiovascular diseases of men in our study group. A total of 188 apparently healthy male subjects resident in Benin City, Nigeria, aged between 18 and 75 years, were selected for this study. The subjects were divided into three (3) groups - Group A (control); male participants aged 18 -39 years (n = 94), Group B (test); male participants aged 40 - 59 years (n = 47) and Group C (test); male participants aged 60 - 75 years (n = 47). Blood samples were collected after an overnight fast; TT was assayed using the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique; fasting blood glucose (FBG) and lipids (TG, TC, and HDL-C) were assayed using enzyme – based colorimetric methods. LDL-C, Body mass index (BMI), Atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) were calculated using appropriate formulae, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured using a sphygmomanometer. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 software. TT levels were observed to be lower with increasing age and this was statistically significant, (P ˂ 0.001). The concentrations of Fasting Blood Glucose, lipids (TC, TG, and LDL-C), AIP and BMI were observed to be significantly higher with increasing age, respectively, (P ˂ 0.001). The values of SBP and DBP were also observed to be higher with age and these were significant statistically, (P ˂ 0.001). TT correlated negatively and significantly (P ˂ 0.05) with Age (r =- 0.626, P = 0.000), TC (r = - 0.250, P = 0.015), LDLC (r = - 0.247, P = 0.017), but it was observed to correlate positively and significantly with DBP, (r = 0.205, P = 0.047). AIP correlated positively and significantly with Age (r = 0.0261, p = 0.011), TC (r = 0.404, p = 0.000), TG (r = 0.816, p = 0.000), LDLC (r = 0.473, p = 0.000) but negatively and significantly with HDLC (r = - 0.492, p = 0.000).This study showed that TT is associated with atherogenic lipid; it may therefore be considered a risk factor and a predictive marker for men who are at risk for cardiovascular disease.