In vitro Antimicrobial Assessment of Lepidium sativum L. Seeds Extracts

Abstract: The antimicrobial activity of the petroleum ether, methanol and water extracts of Lepidium sativum seed extracts against six opportunistic pathogens namely Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonae, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and one fungus Candida albicans was assessed using the concentrations of 2.5, 5 and 10%. The antimicrobial activity of plant seeds extracts were compared with that of Gentamicin or Ketoconzol, as reference antibiotics. The petroleum ether extract of Lepidium sativum seeds in different concentrations (2.5-5-10%) were found to be active antimicrobials against all the test microorganisms with a strong antifungal activity at the concentration 2.5 and 10%. At the concentration of 5%, the methanolic extract of this plant had no activity against Candida albicans. Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans were resistant to 2.5 and 5% water extracts, whereas the latter was also resistant to 5% methanolic extract. The antimicrobial activity of Gentamicin and Ketoconzol against the same test microorganisms was compared with that of the extracts of L. sativum seeds

Toxicological Aspects of Cola acuminata Nut Extracts

Abstract: The multipurpose medicinal plant, Cola acuminata, was chosen for this investigation. Prominent effects on body weight and weight gain was observed. The toxicity on liver, kidney and heart was correlated with changes in the activity of Aspartate Transaminase (AST) and Alanine Transaminase (ALT), and the concentration of cholesterol, albumin and urea in serum. There was an increase in the neutrophils and decrease in lymphocytes in the blood of all the tested groups and an increase of WBC of two groups only. Cytoplasmic fatty vacuolation or necrosis of the centrilobular hepatocytes catarrhal enteritis with minute erosions of the intestinal epithelium with lymphocytic infiltration in the lamina propria and hemosidrin deposition, shrinkage of the glomerular tufts and dilatation of the proximal convoluted tubules were also seen. In group 3 there were lymphocytic infiltrations, glomerular packing, degeneration or necrosis of the epithelial cells of the renal convoluted tubules. No significant lesions were observed in the heart of the test rats. The vital organs of the control rats remained healthy

Artesunate plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine for treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Sudan

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis and effective treatment with an appropriate drug form the main components of the World Health Organization's strategy to reduce malaria related mortality. The few available drugs might be safeguarded if combined with artesunate. The addition of artesunate to a standard antimalarial treatment substantially reduces treatment failure, recrudescence and gametocyte carriage. METHODS: During late 2004, the efficacy of artesunate (4 mg/kg. day, on days 0–2) plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (25 mg/kg, on day 0) for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria was investigated in four sentinel areas in Sudan, with different malaria transmission (Damazin, Kassala, Kosti, and Malakal). RESULTS: Two hundreds and sixty-nine patients completed the 28-day follow-up. On day one, 60 (22.3%) patients were febrile and 15 (5.5%) patients were parasitaemic. On day three, all the patients were afebrile and aparasitaemic. While two patients (0.7%, Kassala) showed late Clinical and Parasitological Failures, the rest (99.3%) of the patients demonstrated Adequate Clinical and Parasitological Response. A gametocytaemia were detected during the follow-up in one patient (0.37%, Kassala). Adverse drug effects were detected in 32 (11.9%) patients CONCLUSION: The study showed that AS plus SP is an effective, safe drug in the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria in Sudan

Feasibility and acceptability of home-based management of malaria strategy adapted to Sudan's conditions using artemisinin-based combination therapy and rapid diagnostic test

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria remains a major public health problem especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the efforts exerted to provide effective anti-malarial drugs, still some communities suffer from getting access to these services due to many barriers. This research aimed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of home-based management of malaria (HMM) strategy using artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for treatment and rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for diagnosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a study conducted in 20 villages in Um Adara area, South Kordofan state, Sudan. Two-thirds (66%) of the study community were seeking treatment from heath facilities, which were more than 5 km far from their villages with marked inaccessibility during rainy season. Volunteers (one per village) were trained on using RDTs for diagnosis and artesunate plus sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine for treating malaria patients, as well as referral of severe and non-malaria cases. A system for supply and monitoring was established based on the rural health centre, which acted as a link between the volunteers and the health system. Advocacy for the policy was done through different tools. Volunteers worked on non-monetary incentives but only a consultation fee of One Sudanese Pound (equivalent to US$0.5).</p> <p>Pre- and post-intervention assessment was done using household survey, focus group discussion with the community leaders, structured interview with the volunteers, and records and reports analysis.</p> <p>Results and discussion</p> <p>The overall adherence of volunteers to the project protocol in treating and referring cases was accepted that was only one of the 20 volunteers did not comply with the study guidelines. Although the use of RDTs seemed to have improved the level of accuracy and trust in the diagnosis, 30% of volunteers did not rely on the negative RDT results when treating fever cases. Almost all (94.7%) the volunteers felt that they were satisfied with the spiritual outcome of their new tasks. As well, volunteers have initiated advocacy campaigns supported by their village health committees which were found to have a positive role to play in the project that proved their acceptability of the HMM design. The planned system for supply was found to be effective. The project was found to improve the accessibility to ACTs from 25% to 64.7% and the treatment seeking behaviour from 83.3% to 100% before- and after the HMM implementation respectivly.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The evaluation of the project identified the feasibility of the planned model in Sudan's condition. Moreover, the communities as well as the volunteers found to be satisfied with and supportive to the system and the outcome. The problem of treating other febrile cases when diagnosis is not malaria and other non-fever cases needs to be addressed as well.</p

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

On ground state for a class of nonlinear Schrödinger equation

I study the existence of ground state for the following periodic Schrödinger equation under the circumstance that the nonlinear term satisfies odd conditions by using the Mountain Pass Lemma and variational method. $$-\Delta u+V(x)u-\Delta(1+u^2)^{{1}/{2}}{u\over 2(1+u^2)^{{1}/{2}}}=f\,(x, u).$