Elevated abnormal proteins in the serum of Nigerian pill users.

The 'globulines anormalment precipitables' (GAP) which have been reported to be raised in current and former oral contraceptive users was measured in Nigerian subjects (which) including male volunteers. The results showed that GAP were present in males who had never used contraceptives and that the mean values were the lowest in intrauterine contraceptive (IUD) users and highest in females who had never used any contraceptive. However, current contraceptive users had lower mean GAP values than either former users or never users. Therefore it has been concluded that GAP levels alone cannot be used to predict the development of thrombo-embolic complications in pill users, and that ethinyl oestradiol cannot be the main physiological stimulus for GAP synthesis.