BackgroundHypertensive disorders of pregnancy are important causes of morbidity and mortality. The levels of calcium (Ca2+) and magnesium (Mg2+) in pregnancy may implicate their possible role in pregnancy-induced hypertension. This study assessed serum Ca2+ and Mg2+ levels in women with PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension) and PE (pre-eclampsia), compared to that in normal pregnancy.MethodsThis case–control study was conducted on 380 pregnant women (≥20 weeks gestation) receiving antenatal care at three hospitals in the Cape Coast metropolis, Ghana. This comprised 120 women with PIH, 100 women with PE and 160 healthy, age-matched pregnant women (controls). Demographic, anthropometric, clinical and obstetric data were gathered using an interview-based questionnaire. Venous blood samples were drawn for the estimation of calcium and magnesium.ResultsSystolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were significantly raised in women with PIH (p < 0.0001) and PE (p < 0.0001). Women with hypertensive disorders (PE and PIH) had significantly lower serum calcium and magnesium levels than those in the control group (p < 0.0001 each). Of those with PIH, SBP correlated positively with BMI (r = 0.575, p < 0.01) and Ca2+ correlated positively with Mg2+ (r = 0.494, p < 0.01). This was similar amongst the PE group for SBP and BMI as well as for Ca2+and Mg2+ but was not significant. Multivariate analysis showed that women aged ≥40 years were at a significant risk of developing PIH (OR = 2.14, p = 0.000).ConclusionIn this study population, serum calcium and magnesium levels are lower in PIH and PE than in normal pregnancy. Mineral supplementation during the antenatal period may influence significantly, the occurrence of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.

Background:Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide and a serious health problem that affects the majority of women.Aim:We investigated the association between lipid profile and maternal obesity among preeclamptic women in the Cape Coast Metropolis.Subject and Methods:This case–control study involved 60 preeclamptics and 50 healthy pregnant controls matched for age and gestational weeks consecutively recruited from two major hospitals in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Blood samples were collected after overnight fasting and enzymatic spectrophotometric tests used to estimate lipid concentrations. The independent samples t-test, Chi-square, and Pearson's correlation were used in the analysis of data gathered.Results:Serum triglyceride (TG) (P = 0.04), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) (P = 0.02), TC (P = 0.01) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) (P = 0.03) levels were higher in preeclamptic participants than in the controls. High density lipoprotein concentration showed no significant variation between the two groups (P = 0.83). Preeclamptic women were more obese (P = 0.07). High body mass index (OR = 1.501; CI = 0.926-2.106, P = 0.01), high TG level (OR = 5.026; CI = 0.794-31.818, P = 0.01), were associated with preeclampsia.Conclusion:Lipid abnormalities, mostly elevated levels of TG, TC, LDL, and VLDL are present in preeclamptics. High TG levels and maternal obesity are associated with preeclampsia among pregnant women in the Cape Coast Metropolis.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic gut immune dysregulation and dysbiosis condition is rapidly increasing in global incidence. Regardless, there is a lack of ideal diagnostic markers, while conventional treatment provides scarce desired results, thus, the exploration for better options. Changes in the gut microbial composition and metabolites either lead to or are caused by the immune dysregulation that characterizes IBD. This study examined the fecal metagenomics and metabolomic changes in IBD patients. A total of 30 fecal samples were collected from 15 IBD patients and 15 healthy controls for 16S rDNA gene sequencing and UHPLC/Q-TOF-MS detection of metabolomics. Results showed that there was a severe perturbation of gut bacteria community composition, diversity, metabolites, and associated functions and metabolic pathways in IBD. This included a significantly decreased abundance of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes, increased disease-associated phyla such as Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, and increased Escherichiacoli and Klebsiellapneumoniae in IBD. A total of 3146 metabolites were detected out of which 135 were differentially expressed between IBD and controls. Metabolites with high sensitivity and specificity in differentiating IBD from healthy individuals included 6,7,4′-trihydroxyisoflavone and thyroxine 4′-o-.beta.-d-glucuronide (AUC = 0.92), normorphine and salvinorin a (AUC = 0.90), and trichostachine (AUC = 0.91). Moreover, the IBD group had significantly affected pathways including primary bile acid biosynthesis, vitamin digestion and absorption, and carbohydrate metabolism. This study reveals that the combined evaluation of metabolites and fecal microbiome can be useful to discriminate between healthy subjects and IBD patients and consequently serve as therapeutic and diagnostic targets.

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The emergence of H5, H7, and H9 avian influenza virus subtypes in humans reveals their pandemic potential. Although human-to-human transmission has been limited, the genetic reassortment of the avian and human/porcine influenza viruses or mutations in some of the genes resulting in virus replication in the upper respiratory tract of humans could generate novel pandemic influenza viruses. Current vaccines do not provide cross protection against antigenically distinct strains of the H5, H7, and H9 influenza viruses. Therefore, newer vaccine approaches are needed to overcome these potential threats. We developed an egg-independent, adenovirus vector-based, multi-epitope (ME) vaccine approach using the relatively conserved immunogenic domains of the H5N1 influenza virus [M2 ectodomain (M2e), hemagglutinin (HA) fusion domain (HFD), T-cell epitope of nucleoprotein (TNP). and HA α-helix domain (HαD)]. Our ME vaccine induced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses and caused a significant reduction in the viral loads in the lungs of vaccinated mice that were challenged with antigenically distinct H5, H7, or H9 avian influenza viruses. These results suggest that our ME vaccine approach provided broad protection against the avian influenza viruses. Further improvement of this vaccine will lead to a pre-pandemic vaccine that may lower morbidity, hinder transmission, and prevent mortality in a pandemic situation before a strain-matched vaccine becomes available.