Additives in petroleum solvents have been reported to have adverse health implications. An evaluation study on some toxicological effects of occupational exposure to petroleum products (especially petrol which contains tetraethyl lead) amongst twenty five occupationally exposed artisans and twenty five graduate students of College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi, Nigeria as controls, was carried out using the following biochemical markers: electrolytes, urea, uric acid, inorganic phosphorus, creatinine, zinc and blood lead, as well as the activities of alanine and aspartate aminotransferases, and alkaline phosphatase. The results showed that occupational exposure of human subjects to lead in petrol increases the concentrations of uric acid (357 ± 123µ mol/L) and phosphate (1.5 ± 0.5m mol/L) in exposed subjects compared with unexposed subjects (uric acid 228 ± 105µ mol/L, phosphate 1.2 ± 0.41m mol/L; p < 0.01 in both cases). Significantly lower activities were observed for alkaline phosphatase (66 ± 18.9 iu/L). The activities of alanine aminotransferase (11.4 ± 4.0 iu/L) and aspartate aminotransferase (15.8 ± 4.4 iu/L) in occupationally exposed artisans were higher compared with unexposed subjects (alkaline phosphatase = 78 ± 22.4 iu/L alanine aminotranferase = 6.8 ± 2.7 iu/L, aspartate aminotranferase = 9.6 ± 3.5i u/L; p < 0.01 in all cases). Occupational exposure of human subjects to lead significantly increased blood lead (59.6 ± 15.9 µg/dL) and decreased plasma zinc (71.3 ± 14.4 µg/L) in exposed compared with unexposed subjects (blood lead = 35 ± 7 µg/dL, zinc = 108.4 ± 16.9 µg/dL; p < 0.01). The results indicate that occupational exposure to lead in petrol may compromise liver and renal function.

Pre-eclampsia refers to a syndrome of new onset of hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation in a previously normotensive woman. 1 Hypertension associated with pregnancy is the most common medical risk for maternal morbidity and mortality. 2 Pre-eclampsia has been dubbed the "disease of theories" because of the multiple hypothesis have been proposed to explain its occurrence. 3 Despite its prevalence and severity, the pathophysiology of this multisystemic disorder is still poorly understood. Some studies have shown that changes in the levels of trace elements in pre-eclamptic patients may implicate its pathogenesis, 4 while others have failed to show any association of blood levels of trace elements and prevalence of pre-eclampsia. 5 High rate of preeclampsia in developing countries have forced ABSTRACT Background: Despite numerous studies, the exact aetiology of pre-eclampsia remains unknown. Some studies have shown that supplementation of calcium and magnesium could ameliorate the effects of pre-eclampsia. The objective of this study was to compare the calcium and magnesium levels in the serum of Nigerian women with or without preeclampsia. Methods: In this study, serum calcium and magnesium levels were determined using atomic absorption spectrometry in 54 patients and 48 healthy normotensive pregnant women. The mean, standard deviation, Student's't' test and Pearson correlation were employed. Results: Serum calcium was significantly lower in patients than controls (9.17 ± 0.6 vs. 7.22 ± 0.5 mg/dl. P <0.001) (t test). Plasma Magnesium was significantly lower in patients than controls 13.19 ± 1.1 vs. 9.81 ± 0.7 mg/dl. P <0.001). The systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed significant inverse correlation with both calcium and magnesium (P<0.01). Conclusion: There was significant reduction in the levels of calcium and magnesium in patients with pre-eclampsia. Dietary supplementation of these trace elements may help to prevent pre-eclampsia.

The acute and subchronic toxicity studies of Boerhavia diffusa (B. diffusa) leaves in albino mice and rats were investigated. Phytochemical analysis was also carried out. 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg of the aqueous leaf extract were administered orally to the test groups while distilled water was given to the control group. The parameters measured include food and fluid intake, body weight, absolute and relative weight of various organs, haematological parameters [total white blood cell (WBC) and packed cell volume (PCV)], and tests for liver function: glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), alkaline phosphatase and total bilirubin. The lethal dose (LD 50 ) was found to be greater than 2000 mg/kg (p.o.) in both mice and rats. Rats treated with the extract had progressive increase in body weight, which was significantly (p < 0.05) different from control. The aqueous extract of B. diffusa leaves increased both food and fluid intake. There were no significant changes in both the absolute and relative organ weights between the control and the test groups. The liver enzymes and haematological parameters were statistically equal in all the groups. B. diffusa aqueous leaf extract is non toxic in albino rats.

The study shows that metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients and the most common risk factor is hypertension.

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