The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus belonging to the family of lentiviruses. Retroviruses are so
named because they reverse the normal flow of genetic information. In all cellular organisms the genetic material is
DNA. Retroviruses use their RNA and host DNA to make viral DNA. Infection with HIV causes severe damage to
the immune system leading to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Individuals infected with HIV show
both cellular and humoral (antibody) immune responses to the virus, but these responses are unable to prevent the
ultimate progression of disease in the great majority of infected individuals. Depletion of CD4 lymphocytes is the
hallmark of HIV infection, and predicts an individual’s risk for infection with opportunistic pathogens as well as other
complications of HIV disease. There is a great association of HIV and cardiovascular disease due to a higher
prevalence of underlying traditional cardiovascular risk factors that are mostly host dependent. Most of the HIV drugs
increase the chances of cardiovascular diseases in the patients especially protease inhibitors. Chronic inflammation,
hypercoagulability and platelet activation all contribute to endothelial dysfunction, and are a probable link between
HIV and cardiovascular disease.

The results obtained from this study showed that extracts of Mucuna pruriens possess both antifungal
and wound healing effects. The presence of plethora of phytochemicals-alkaloids, phenolics,
flavonoids, tannins, glycosides, saponins and steroids corroborate previous studies in which plant
extracts containing most of these, do possess antifungal {7,8,9 } and wound healing {6}
activities.
Candida albicans, penicillum spp. and Aspergillum spp. known to be pathological to humans. Hence ,
effective antifungal activity against these organisms will be handy towards controlling diseases they
cause in humans. This work showed that microbial growth was hindered by the extracts, and it was
obvious that any agent that can hinder the growth of micro-organism will also check diseases caused
by those organisms, which agrees to the works of many researchers {10,11,12}. This research
highlighted that the ethanol extract exhibited pronounced antifungal activity in comparison with
aqueous extract. This was because ethanol as an organic solvent extracted more of the phytochemicals
recognizing that the active ingredients are both polar and non-polar, and they are extracted mainly via
organic solvent medium. This is in harmony with organic solvent extraction being suitable in
verifying antifungal properties of medicinal plants {13,14}. This study showed that aqueous leaf extract
of M. pruriens accelerated the progression of wound healing activity. This suggests that it may
contain proteolytic enzymes which appeared to be effective for dislodging necrotic tissue and
preventing infection. The extract was found to contain flavonoids. Flavonoids are reported to exhibit
antioxidant activity and effective scavengers of superoxide anions; hence Mucuna pruriens may have
hepatoprotective activity {15, 16}.

Evaluation of Serum Haptoglobin Concentrations in Drunkards. Book of Abstracts at the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientist of Nigeria 53rd Annual Scientific Conference & Workshop, Kaduna State, Nigeria

The study was carried out to determine the concentrations of Dehydroepiandrosterone hormone (DHEAS) and testosterone in infertile males and compared with fertile males attending Madonna University Teaching Hospital (MUTH) Elele.
Methods: Thirty apparently infertile males were studied and compared with 30 apparently fertile male as control.
Results: There was significant increase (P<0.05) in DHEAS of 1.23+0.07 ug/ml obtained in infertile male compared with 3.78 +0.13 ug/ml in the control. There was significant difference in Semen count of 56.27 +2.82million/ml in fertile males compared with 7.73+ 0.10 million/ml while testosterone in infertile males of 2.53+0.09 was significantly lower than 7.52+0.31 in fertile males(P<0.05).The study showed that DHEAS is elevated in infertility hence should be considered an indicator of infertility.