The phytochemical analysis and antimicrobial screening of extracts of Olax subscorpioidea

The antimicrobial activities of the aqueous and ethanoic extracts of the stem of Olax subscorpioidea were evaluated. The ethanoic extract showed considerable activity on both the fungi and bacteria with zones of inhibition ranging from 7.2 mm to 21.5 mm, with minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging from 5 to 45 mg/ml, while the aqueous extract was only active against three of the test organisms used. Phytochemical test reveals the presence of alkaloids, steroids, and flavonoids together with otheractive ingredients in the ethanoic extract with the exception of saponins which is present in the aqueous extract alone

Determination of the growth rate and volume of lipid produced by Lipomyces species isolated from shear butter leaf (Vitellaria paradoxa)

A Lipomyces strains was isolated from shear butter leaf (Vitellaria paradoxa) by placing the leaf sample in 10 ml of sterile distilled water containing 0.002 g of potassium dihydrogen phosphate and incubatedfor 3 days at 28oC. A drop of this was subsequently streaked nitrogen free medium. For determination of growth rate and volume of lipid produced, 24 h culture of the Lipomyces species isolated was washed into each of the following medium: yeast extract both (YE), nitrogen free broth (NF), maize broth free of salts (MF), maize broth with salts (MB), sorghum broth with salts (SB) and sorghum broth free of salts (SF). These were incubated for 7 days at 28oC on a shaker, and the lipid produced was extracted by using diethyl ether. The Lipomyces species was found to be able to grow and produce lipid more efficiently in yeast extract broth than in other medium used. The organism produced 25 ml of lipid per 8 g of glucose in yeast extract broth

Biological studies on albino rats fed with Sorghum bicolorstarch hydrolyzed with &#8733-amylase from Rhizopus sp.

Partially purified amylase was extracted from the culture medium of Rhizopus sp. grown in potato dextrose broth for 48 h at room temperature by precipitation with 96.9% ethanol. The enzyme was usedto hydrolyze sorghum starch. The hydrolyzed product was afterwards formulated into rat feed, which was fed to albino rats for a period of thirty days. The average daily body weight of the albino rats fed with hydrolyzed formulated feed on the 30th day of the experiment was 131 g while the values recorded for the groups fed with unhydrolyzed and commercial feed were 120 and 97.4 grams respectively. Thehematological analysis revealed that the packed cell volume (PCV), Hemoglobin (Hb), red blood cells (RBC), mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) of the group fed with hydrolyzed formulated feed of 51.8%, 16.9 g/dl, 8.7 x 105 ƒÊl-1 and 32.7%, respectively, were higher than the experimental animals fed with commercial feed with values of 44.2%, 14.4 g/dl, 7.7 x 10

Toxin production in food as influenced by pH, thermal treatment and chemical preservatives

Sixteen foods borne bacteria were isolated from raw food samples including okro, carrot, spinach, pepper, tomato, onion and cooked food samples (rice, yam, beans, meat and plantain). The isolateswere characterized and identified as Bacillus brevis, Bacillus congulans, Bacillus polymyxa, Bacillus lentus, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus subtilis, Acinetobacter spp., Citrobacter freundii, Klebsiella aerogenes, Streptococcus agalactiae, Alcaligenes spp., Corynebacterium spp., Enterobacter aerogenes, Enterobacter spp. and Staphylococcus epidermidis. These isolates were screened on egg yolk agar fortoxigenic properties and thirteen of the sixteen were positive for toxin production while three were negative. Six out of the thirteen toxigenic bacterial were selected for further work. These were; E. coli,K. aerogenes, C. freundii, B. polymyxa, S. epidermidis and E. aerogenes. The effect of pH, thermal treatment and chemical preservatives on the growth rate and toxin elaboration of E. coli, K. aerogenes, C. freundii, B. polymyxa, S. epidermidis and E. aerogenes was studied. It was observed that E. coli had no viable growth until 48 h of incubation, while the other five isolates had visible growth right from the 24 h of incubation. Also E. coli did not produce toxin until the 96th hour of incubation; K. aerogenes and E. aerogenes were able to produce toxin at 24 h of incubation, while C. freundii, B. polymyxa and S.epidermidis produced toxin at 48 h of incubation. Also, 44°C was not suitable for toxin production. pH 3 and 5 were less favorable for toxin production despite the fact that isolates were able to grow at different temperature and pH ranges. The isolate were more sensitive to sodium metabisulfite than benzoic acid. Also, E. coli and K. aerogenes were able to elaborate toxin in their dormant state with 750mg of sodium metabisulfite

Enteroviruses as a possible cause of hypertension, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and hypertensive heart failure (HHF) in South western Nigeria

Background: Human enteroviruses have long been associated with various diseases of man resulting into a wide range of acute symptoms involving the cardiac and skeletal muscles, central nervous system, pancreas, skin and mucous membranes.Objective: To assess the role of enteroviruses in the etiology of hypertension, DCM and HHF.Methods: We obtained stool specimens from 70 subjects comprising 65 patients and 5 controls and isolation was carried out on RD, L20B, HEp-2C and Vero cell lines and identified by neutralization with standard antisera (RIVM). Thirty-six enteroviruses were isolated and identified to be Coxsackieviruses-B5, A9, Echoviruses 1, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 22, 30 and Poliovirus type 1 and 3.Results: Three most frequently occurring enterovirus serotypes which constitute 60.0% of the 30 NPEV typed and 50.0% of all the isolates were Echoviruses, Coxsackie-B5-virus and Coxsackievirus-A9. Echoviruses constituted 50.0% of all the serotypes while Coxsackieviruses-B5 and A9 accounts for the 27.8 % and 5.6% respectively. Enteroviral isolation rate was higher in age groups 51 years and above. The percentage of study subjects who had Coxsackie-B5-viruses and echoviruses was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in cases of hypertension, HHF and DCM than in control subjects. Coxackie-B5-virus, Echovirus-6 and Echovirus-11 were found in both study locations.Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that Enteroviruses may likely be involved in the etiology of hypertension, DCM and HHF. Further studies would therefore be necessary for the prevention and control of these diseases.Keywords: Etiology, coxsackieviruses, Echoviruses, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), Enteroviruses, hypertension, hypertensive heart failure (HHF)African Health Sciences 2013; 13(4): 1098 - 110

Oropharyngeal fetus-in fetu in Ilero Nigeria: A case report

Fetus-in-fetu is a rare congenital condition in which a malformed parasitic twin is found within the body of its partner. Although a few had been documented worldwide, none has been reported in Nigeria. In this report, we document the history of a concoction of drugs of an indeterminate nature taken in pregnancy, the wrong diagnosis by the rural based sonographer and the presence of polyhydraminos. Our finding of a previously misdiagnosed oropharyngeal fetus-in fetu with dichorionic and cardiac features calls for a revision of the current definition of fetus-in fetu. It also raises an important hypothesis of the likely associations between drugs, infections, pregnancy induced hypertension and fetus-in-fetu.Key words: Fetal abnormality; oropharyngeal fetus-in fetu; pregnancy

Genome-wide association study of prevalent and persistent cervical high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection

Background: Genetic factors may influence the susceptibility to high-risk (hr) human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and persistence. We conducted the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify variants associated with cervical hrHPV infection and persistence. Methods: Participants were 517 Nigerian women evaluated at baseline and 6 months follow-up visits for HPV. HPV was characterized using SPF10/LiPA25. hrHPV infection was positive if at least one carcinogenic HPV genotype was detected in a sample provided at the baseline visit and persistent if at least one carcinogenic HPV genotype was detected in each of the samples provided at the baseline and follow-up visits. Genotyping was done using the Illumina Multi-Ethnic Genotyping Array (MEGA) and imputation was done using the African Genome Resources Haplotype Reference Panel. Association analysis was done for hrHPV infection (125 cases/392 controls) and for persistent hrHPV infection (51 cases/355 controls) under additive genetic models adjusted for age, HIV status and the first principal component (PC) of the genotypes. Results: The mean (±SD) age of the study participants was 38 (±8) years, 48% were HIV negative, 24% were hrHPV positive and 10% had persistent hrHPV infections. No single variant reached genome-wide significance (p < 5 X 10− 8). The top three variants associated with hrHPV infections were intronic variants clustered in KLF12 (all OR: 7.06, p = 1.43 × 10− 6). The top variants associated with cervical hrHPV persistence were in DAP (OR: 6.86, p = 7.15 × 10− 8), NR5A2 (OR: 3.65, p = 2.03 × 10− 7) and MIR365–2 (OR: 7.71, p = 2.63 × 10− 7) gene regions. Conclusions: This exploratory GWAS yielded suggestive candidate risk loci for cervical hrHPV infection and persistence. The identified loci have biological annotation and functional data supporting their role in hrHPV infection and persistence. Given our limited sample size, larger discovery and replication studies are warranted to further characterize the reported associations

Echocardiographic partition values and prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive Nigerians

BACKGROUND: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a well known independent risk factor for cardiovascular events. It has been shown that combination of left ventricular mass (LVM) and relative wall thickness (RWT) can be used to identify different forms of left ventricular (LV) geometry. Prospective studies have shown that LV geometric patterns have prognostic implications, with the worst prognosis associated with concentric hypertrophy. The methods for the normalization or indexation of LVM have also recently been shown to confer some prognostic value especially in obese population. We sought to determine the prevalence of echocardiographic lLVH using eight different and published cut-off or threshold values in hypertensive subjects seen in a developing country's tertiary centre. METHODS: Echocardiography was performed in four hundred and eighty consecutive hypertensive subjects attending the cardiology clinic of the University college Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria over a two-year period. RESULTS: Complete data was obtained in 457 (95.2%) of the 480 subjects (48.6% women). The prevalence of LVH ranged between 30.9–56.0%. The highest prevalence was when LVM was indexed to the power of 2.7 with a partition value of 49.2 g/ht(2.7 )in men and 46.7 g/ht(2.7 )in women. The lowest prevalence was observed when LVM was indexed to body surface area (BSA) and a partition value of 125 g/m(2 )was used for both sexes. Abnormal LV geometry was present in 61.1%–74.0% of our subjects and commoner in women. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of LVH hypertensive patients is strongly dependent on the cut-off value used to define it. Large-scale prospective study will be needed to determine the prognostic implications of the different LV geometry in native Africans

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

SummaryBackground The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors—the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6–58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8–42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Action to protect the independence and integrity of global health research

Storeng KT, Abimbola S, Balabanova D, et al. Action to protect the independence and integrity of global health research. BMJ GLOBAL HEALTH. 2019;4(3): e001746