Sub-Acute Hepatoxicity of Aqueous Leaf Extract of Eucalyptus camaldulensis in Rats

Sub–acute toxicity study of the aqueous leaf extract of Eucalyptus camaldulensis was carried out on albino rats. Doses of 250mg, 500mg, 750mg and 1000mg per kilogram body weight of the extract were administered orally for 21 days. The activities of Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) and the concentrations of total protein, and unconjugated bilirubin in the serum of the experimental rats were determined. The results obtained showed no significant difference (P>0.05) when compared to the control rats that were not administered the extract in all the parameters determined. The results indicated that, aqueous leaf extract of Eucalyptus camaldulensis may not have any toxicological effect at the administered doses.Keyword: Eucalyptus camaldulensis, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, unconjugated bilirubin

Quality Assessment of Sachet Water Packaged Around Kano Metropolis, Nigeria

Thirty brands of sachet water packaged within Kano metropolis were analysed for physico – chemical characteristics; colour, taste, odour, alkalinity, total hardness, pH, chloride, sodium, potassium, calcium, lead, zinc, chromium, copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese using standard methods. All samples were tasteless, colourless and odourless. The mean pH value fall within the range of 4.68 – 8.81, of which 20% were acidic. Alkalinity and total hardness are within WHO (1983) permissible limit, the value ranged between 3.33 to 31.67 and 0.00 to 66.8 mg/l respectively, except for a sample from site A that has no hardness. The concentration of sodium, potassium and calcium was found to be within the acceptable limit and the chloride of most of the sample (ranging 123 to 166 mg/l) is above the WHO acceptable limit (125mg/l). Of the heavy metals analysed lead, chromium, and nickel concentrations were found to be above the WHO permissible limit, while concentrations of copper and zinc were below the WHO (1983), permissible limit. Manganese concentration was found to fall within WHO permissible limit in 70% of the total samples, while 17%of the samples have concentrations above the WHO standard and four of the samples have concentration below the WHO recommendation.Key word: Physico-chemical characteristics, Sachet water, Kano Metropoli

Effect of oral administration of aqueous leaf extract of Momordica charantia (bitter melon) on serum glucose, and lipid profile in alloxan-induced diabetic rats

Momordica charantia (bitter melon) has been used extensively in herbal medicine as remedy for many disease conditions. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of Momordica charantia (MC) aqueous leaf extract on serum fasting blood glucose (FBG) and lipid profile (total cholesterol TC, triglyceride TAG, high density lipoprotein HDL, low density lipoprotein LDL) in alloxan-induced diabetic rat. The extract was administered orally at the dose of 200mg/kg, 400mg/kg, and 600mg/kg body weight either for a period of 2 or 4 week. A significant (p<0.05) improvement in the biochemical parameters such as FBG, TC, TAG, HDL, and LDL levels was observed in MC treated rats as compared to diabetic control rats. The response to treatment was gradual and dose-dependent with maximum effect at higher dose of 600mg/kg body weight for 4 weeks.Keywords: Momordica charantia, blood glucose, Lipid profile, Diabetes

Hemodialysis, plea of availability versus adequecy gezira experience

Objectives: This is a prospective cross sectional study carried out in Gezira Hospital for Renal Diseases and Surgery (Sudan) to assess the adequacy of hemodialysis in 206 patients with end stage kidney disease on regular hemodialysis twice per week using.Methods: Pre and post hemodialysis blood sample were obtained from the study group, spKt/V and urea reduction ratio were calculated.Results: Mean Kt/v was found to be 1.19 and urea reduction ratio was 59.55%. None of the patients in this study group achieved the National Kidney Foundation Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) recommendations for adequate hemodialyis, since it requiresthree hemodialyis sessions per week and our patients are receiving two sessions per week.Conclusion: In order to improve the situation herewith we recommended increased number of sessions from two to three times per week and \or increase the duration of hemodialysis session, increase blood flow rate and dialysate flow rate. Moreover, decrease the number of patients onregular hemodialysis by encouraging the patients to take the other renal replacement therapy (peritoneal dialysis and renal transplantations)

Effect of homogenates of avocado pear (Persea americana) seeds and fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) leaves coadministered with anti-tuberculosis drugs on liver enzymes of albino rats

This study evaluated the effects of aqueous homogenates of avocado pear (Persea americana) seeds and fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) leaves co-administered with anti-tuberculosis drug on liver enzymes of albino rats. Twenty (20) albino rats were divided into five (5) groups (of four rats each) designated as I, II, III, IV and V (which is the normal control). A dose of 5.14mg/kg body weight of a first line anti-tuberculosis drug (a combination of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide and ethambutol) was administered orally to two (2) rats in group I, II, III, and IV for seven (7) days and the remaining two rats in each group for fourteen (14) days. The homogenates of avocado pear seeds (at a dose of 250mg/kg body weight), fluted pumpkin leaves (at a dose of 250mg/kg BW) and a mixture of avocado pear seeds and fluted pumpkin leaves (at a dose of 250mg/kg BW, and 125mg/kg BW respectively) were co-administered with the anti-TB drug to groups II, III and IV respectively. Group I rats served as the positive control (i.e. treated with only 5.14mg/kg BW of anti-TB drug). The results indicated that the activities of serum AST, ALT and ALP were significantly higher (P<0.05) in rats administered with 5.14 mg/kg BW first line anti-TB drugs only when compared with that of the rats co-administered with the same anti-TB drug and 250mg/kg BW plant homogenates (avocado pear seeds, fluted pumpkin leave, and a combination of the two homogenates). The mean serum AST, ALT and ALP activities were found to have decrease (P<0.05) in groups II, III, and IV rats from the beginning to the end of the treatment periods. Similarly, mean serum activities of AST, ALT and ALP in group III rats decreased (P<0.05) significantly when compared with that of group II rats. Moreover, the serum activities of these enzymes were significantly lower (P<0.05) in group V rats compared to that of groups II and III rats. The rise in the mean serum activities of liver enzymes in group I rats when compared to that of group V rats indicated that the anti-TB drug is hepatotoxic. The findings of this research work predicts that the aqueous homogenates of both avocado pear seeds and fluted pumpkin leaves have hepatoprotective abilities but, the combination of these plant parts shows more hepatoprotective function (i. e. exhibits synergy).Key words: Avocado pear, fluted pumpkin, homogenates, anti-tuberculosis, isoniazid

Pelvi-ureteric junction obstruction secondary to bilateral aberrant vessels and renal stones – case report.

Obstructive uropathy is one of the causes of morbidity and mortality in children because it may lead to renal dysfunction. Pelvi-ureteric junction (PUJ) obstruction secondary to concomitant aberrant vessels and renal stones is uncommon. Method: We describe an adolescent patient with a bilateral obstructive uropathy secondary to renal stones and bilateral aberrant blood vessels crossing the lower poles of the kidneys. Conclusion: Co-existence of aberrant crossing blood vessels and renal stones as a cause of obstructive uropathy in children is rare and when left untreated for a prolonged period of time can lead to chronic kidney disease

Influence of Anti-Plasmodial Metal Complex on Rumen Microbial Populations and Serum Parameters in Sheep

A locally synthesized transition metal complex, cobalt-lumefantrine was assessed through laboratory and feeding trials to ascertain its usefulness as an agent for manipulation of the rumen in sheep grazing tropical pasture. The antimicrobial properties of the metal complex were examined on fresh rumen fluids at different concentrations (0, 0.010, 0.025 and 0.050 mg metal complex/50 ml) to estimate the optimum dosage for the sheep. Thereafter, twelve adult male sheep (11.27 ± 0.62 kg, initial body weight) were divided into three similar treatment groups. Sheep were drenched individually with 2.5 mg metal complex/head dissolved in 10 ml distilled water, either once or at two-week interval over 28 days. The control group received water without the metal complex. Total protozoa population was lowest (P < 0.05) when 50 ml rumen sample was incubated with 0.025 mg cobaltlumefantrine metal complex. Serum alanine amino transferase, ALT (23.73 and 18.16 vs. 16.92 μg/L) and cholesterol (0.94 and 1.18 vs. 1.40 mmol/L) levels were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by the antiplasmodial metal complex treatments (single and repeated treatments vs. the control). It was concluded that 2.5 mg cobalt-lumefantrine complex treatment had no adverse effects on rumen pH, favourably modified rumen microbial populations and improved serum cholesterol level in the sheep.Keywords: Antiplasmodial, metal-complex, rumen, sheep

A Novel Rank Aggregation-Based Hybrid Multifilter Wrapper Feature Selection Method in Software Defect Prediction

The high dimensionality of software metric features has long been noted as a data quality problem that affects the performance of software defect prediction (SDP) models. This drawback makes it necessary to apply feature selection (FS) algorithm(s) in SDP processes. FS approaches can be categorized into three types, namely, filter FS (FFS), wrapper FS (WFS), and hybrid FS (HFS). HFS has been established as superior because it combines the strength of both FFS and WFS methods. However, selecting the most appropriate FFS (filter rank selection problem) for HFS is a challenge because the performance of FFS methods depends on the choice of datasets and classifiers. In addition, the local optima stagnation and high computational costs of WFS due to large search spaces are inherited by the HFS method. Therefore, as a solution, this study proposes a novel rank aggregation-based hybrid multifilter wrapper feature selection (RAHMFWFS) method for the selection of relevant and irredundant features from software defect datasets. The proposed RAHMFWFS is divided into two stepwise stages. The first stage involves a rank aggregation-based multifilter feature selection (RMFFS) method that addresses the filter rank selection problem by aggregating individual rank lists from multiple filter methods, using a novel rank aggregation method to generate a single, robust, and non-disjoint rank list. In the second stage, the aggregated ranked features are further preprocessed by an enhanced wrapper feature selection (EWFS) method based on a dynamic reranking strategy that is used to guide the feature subset selection process of the HFS method. This, in turn, reduces the number of evaluation cycles while amplifying or maintaining its prediction performance. The feasibility of the proposed RAHMFWFS was demonstrated on benchmarked software defect datasets with Naïve Bayes and Decision Tree classifiers, based on accuracy, the area under the curve (AUC), and F-measure values. The experimental results showed the effectiveness of RAHMFWFS in addressing filter rank selection and local optima stagnation problems in HFS, as well as the ability to select optimal features from SDP datasets while maintaining or enhancing the performance of SDP models. To conclude, the proposed RAHMFWFS achieved good performance by improving the prediction performances of SDP models across the selected datasets, compared to existing state-of-the-arts HFS methods

Two decades of neuroscience publication trends in Africa.

Neuroscience research in Africa remains sparse. Devising new policies to boost Africa's neuroscience landscape is imperative, but these must be based on accurate data on research outputs which is largely lacking. Such data must reflect the heterogeneity of research environments across the continent's 54 countries. Here, we analyse neuroscience publications affiliated with African institutions between 1996 and 2017. Of 12,326 PubMed indexed publications, 5,219 show clear evidence that the work was performed in Africa and led by African-based researchers - on average ~5 per country and year. From here, we extract information on journals and citations, funding, international coauthorships and techniques used. For reference, we also extract the same metrics from 220 randomly selected publications each from the UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Brazil. Our dataset provides insights into the current state of African neuroscience research in a global context

Methamphetamine induces endoplasmic reticulum stress related gene CHOP/Gadd153/ddit3 in dopaminergic cells

We examined the toxicity of methamphetamine and dopamine in CATH.a cells, which were derived from mouse dopamine-producing neural cells in the central nervous system. Use of the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that transcripts of the endoplasmic reticulum stress related gene (CHOP/Gadd153/ddit3) were considerably induced at 24–48 h after methamphetamine administration (but only under apoptotic conditions), whereas dopamine slightly induced CHOP/Gadd153/ddit3 transcripts at an early stage. We also found that dopamine and methamphetamine weakly induced transcripts for the glucose-regulated protein 78 gene (Grp78/Bip) at the early stage. Analysis by immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrated an increase of　CHOP/Gadd153/ddit3 and Grp78/Bip proteins at 24 h after methamphetamine administration. Treatment of CATH.a cells with methamphetamine caused a re-distribution of dopamine inside the cells, which mimicked the presynaptic activity of neurons with cell bodies located in the ventral tegmental area or the substantia nigra. Thus, we have demonstrated the existence of endoplasmic reticulum stress in a model of presynaptic dopaminergic neurons for the first time. Together with the recent evidence suggesting the importance of presynaptic toxicity, our findings provide new insights into the mechanisms of dopamine toxicity, which might represent one of the most important mechanisms of methamphetamine toxicity and addiction