Phytochemical, Pharmacological and Toxicological Aspects of Capparis erythrocarpos Isert.: A Review

Capparis erythrocarpos is a shrub plant with a large natural distribution used in traditional medicines to cure various illnesses. The study sought to review and compile all data available on this medicinally important plant, which will help inform scientists and researchers the gap needed to be filled in studying the plant. The present review summarizes information concerning the ethnopharmacology, morphology, phytochemistry, toxicology and biological activities of C. erythrocarpos. Scientific databases such as NCBI/PubMed, Google scholar, Sci finder, Science direct were searched for published article on the plant. The active phytochemicals; flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, phytosterols, glycosides, tannins, coumarins and saponins have been identified from various parts of the plant. Pharmacological and biological studies on the plant have revealed its antimicrobial, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, anti-diabetic and anti-dyslipidemia activities, with no reported toxic effect. It is recommended that future studies should focus on identification, separation, purification and quantification of the most bioactive constituents of C. erythrocarpos due to the paucity of information in this area

Appraisal of the Constituent Plant Materials in a Ghanaian Antifungal Herbal Product; An in vitro Interactive Combination Analysis and a Pilot Clinical Study to Determine Efficacy.

Evidence based use of herbal medicines has a positive implication for both users and society. In this study, component plant materials of a traditional Ghanaian polyherbal skin product comprising Eugenia caryophyllata, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides Tridax procumbens, Psidium guajava and Alchornea cordifolia and used in the management of superficial skin infections was evaluated to establish their contribution to the overall therapeutic activity of the product. Each of the five (5) plants was subjected to an in vitro antimicrobial assay using the microtitre broth technique followed by an interactive combination assay for plants demonstrating noteworthy antimicrobial activity (MIC ≤ 1.0 mg/ml). Test strains included Staphyloccocus aureus, Candida albicans, Trichophyton rubrum, Epidermophyton floccusum and Microsporum canis. Eugenia caryophyllata, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides and Alchornea cordifolia showed better activity than Psidium guajava, Tridax procumbens and the Total Crude Extract (combination of the 5 extracts). The binary combination of Eugenia caryophyllata and Alchornea cordifolia indicated synergistic and additive activity against all the test strains. An improved biological activity was also observed when a mixture of the two (2) plants at a ratio of Eugenia caryophyllata 60 % (w/w) and Alchornea cordifolia 40 % (w/w) was assayed. A follow up pilot clinical study established that this new recipe was clinically effective but of lower therapeutic effect compared to the original product. In conclusion, the original formulation of the product may be preferred because of the shorter duration of treatment which reduces the risk of harms and cost of treatment

Appraisal of the Constituent Plant Materials in a Ghanaian Antifungal Herbal Product; An in vitro Interactive Combination Analysis and a Pilot Clinical Study to Determine Efficacy.

Evidence based use of herbal medicines has a positive implication for both users and society. In this study, component plant materials of a traditional Ghanaian polyherbal skin product comprising Eugenia caryophyllata, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides Tridax procumbens, Psidium guajava and Alchornea cordifolia and used in the management of superficial skin infections was evaluated to establish their contribution to the overall therapeutic activity of the product. Each of the five (5) plants was subjected to an in vitro antimicrobial assay using the microtitre broth technique followed by an interactive combination assay for plants demonstrating noteworthy antimicrobial activity (MIC ≤ 1.0 mg/ml). Test strains included Staphyloccocus aureus, Candida albicans, Trichophyton rubrum, Epidermophyton floccusum and Microsporum canis. Eugenia caryophyllata, Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides and Alchornea cordifolia showed better activity than Psidium guajava, Tridax procumbens and the Total Crude Extract (combination of the 5 extracts). The binary combination of Eugenia caryophyllata and Alchornea cordifolia indicated synergistic and additive activity against all the test strains. An improved biological activity was also observed when a mixture of the two (2) plants at a ratio of Eugenia caryophyllata 60 % (w/w) and Alchornea cordifolia 40 % (w/w) was assayed. A follow up pilot clinical study established that this new recipe was clinically effective but of lower therapeutic effect compared to the original product. In conclusion, the original formulation of the product may be preferred because of the shorter duration of treatment which reduces the risk of harms and cost of treatment

Physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions concerning antibiotic resistance:a survey in a Ghanaian tertiary care hospital

Abstract Background Understanding the knowledge, attitudes and practices of physicians towards antibiotic resistance is key to developing interventions aimed at behavior change. The survey aimed to investigate physicians’ knowledge and attitudes towards antibiotic resistance in a tertiary-care hospital setting in Ghana. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional respondent-driven survey using a 40-item, anonymous, voluntary, traditional paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaire among 159 physicians at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital. Single and multi-factor analysis were conducted to assess the study objectives. Results The survey was completed by 159 of 200 physicians (response rate of 79.5%). Of physicians, 30.1% (47/156) perceived antibiotic resistance as very important global problem, 18.5% (29/157) perceived it as very important national problem and only 8.9% (14/157) thought it as a very important problem in their hospital. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus was the most known about antibiotic resistant bacteria of public health importance followed by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE). In multiple logistic regression analysis, senior physicians were nearly 3 times more likely to know about CRE than junior physicians. The odds of knowing about VRE increased over 4.5 times from being a junior to becoming senior physician. Among junior physicians, age had no associated effect on their knowledge of VRE or CRE. Conclusions Physicians in this survey showed variable knowledge and perceptions on antibiotic resistance. Introducing educational programs on antibiotic resistance would be a useful intervention and should focus on junior physicians

A pilot study on the efficacy of an Antiaris toxicaria subsp. africana (Engl.) C.C. Berg based Ghanaian herbal product in the management of peripheral neuropathy.

Context: Peripheral neuropathy is a common neurologic disease that accounts for a lot of physician visits. Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of a Ghanaian herbal product prepared from the stem bark of Antiaris toxicaria subsp. africana (known as Mist Antiaris) in the management of neurological disorders in patients clinically diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy. Methods: A prospective open label non-comparative study was undertaken involving 24 patients seen at the clinic of the Centre for Plant Medicine Research, Mampong-Akuapem. A modified Neuropathic Symptoms Score (NSS) and a visual analogue scale (VAS) using the standardized Wong-Baker faces rating scale (WBFRS) were used to grade each participant on the first day of visit. The VAS was subsequently used to grade and monitor improvements in the symptom characteristics of peripheral neuropathy at the fourth week and on the eighth week. Results: Mean age of participants involved in the study was 46.08 ± 2.77 years with the most significant comorbidity associated with participants being hypertension and type II diabetes, which accounted for 10 (41.66%) of the cases recorded. Baseline NSS indicated that 20 (83.0%) of the participants had severe symptoms and 4 (17.0%) reporting with moderate symptoms of neuropathy. Treatment resulted in an improvement of symptoms with a decline in mean VAS from a baseline of 6.04 ± 0.41 to 3.79 ± 0.74 on day 28 and 2.13 ± 0.93 by day 56. Conclusions: The results gathered from this pilot study indicates that the product Mist Antiaris has good prospects as an anti-neuropathic medication

Medicinal Plants for Treatment of Prevalent Diseases

This chapter focuses on reviewing publications on medicinal plants used in the treatment of common diseases such as malaria, cholera, pneumonia, tuberculosis and asthma. Traditional medicine is still recognized as the preferred primary health care system in many rural communities, due to a number of reasons including affordability and effectiveness. The review concentrated on current literature on medicinal plants, highlighting on information about ethnobotany, phytochemistry and pharmacology. The search for publications on medicinal plants with scientifically proven efficacy was carried out using electronic databases such as Science Direct, Google Scholar, SciFinder and PubMed. In all, about 46 species of different families with potent biological and pharmacological activities were reviewed. All the plants reviewed exhibited potent activity confirming their various traditional uses and their ability to treat prevalent diseases

Sex differences in perceived risk and testing experience of HIV in an urban fishing setting in Ghana

The concept of neighborhood remains important in criminology but there is an increasing academic interest in the potential impact of the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) on neighborhood based studies. In the present study data over arson from the Swedish rescue services 2007-2012 have been employed to analyze MAUP in the city of Malmö, Sweden. The city has been divided into 50*50 meter pixels as micro-places (n=64540) which have been assigned a value for arson from frequency of arson within the pixel. The analysis is based on a comparison of two types of administrative geographical units alongside 40 randomly generated sets of thiessen polygon geographical units. Empty two-level hierarchical regression models with the micro-places as level 1 unit have been used to calculate Intra-Class Correlations (ICC) separately with each of the 42 different geographical units of analysis as level 2 units. The analysis is repeated with two alternative methods, kernel density and euclidian distance, to calculate a value for each micro-place. Results show that administrative geographical units of analysis in some cases just are marginally better than geographical units with random boundaries if the basic urban structure is taken into account

Enrolment of older people in social health protection programs in West Africa e Does social exclusion play a part?

Although the population of older people in Africa is increasing, and older people are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to urbanisation, breakdown of family structures and rising healthcare costs, most African countries have no social health protection for older people. Two exceptions include Senegal's Plan Sesame, a user fees exemption for older people and Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) where older people are exempt from paying premiums. Evidence on whether older people are aware of and enrolling in these schemes is however lacking. We aim to fill this gap. Besides exploring economic indicators, we also investigate whether social exclusion determines enrolment of older people. This is the first study that tries to explore the social, political, economic and cultural (SPEC) dimensions of social exclusion in the context of social health protection programs for older people. Data were collected by two cross-sectional household surveys conducted in Ghana and Senegal in 2012. We develop SPEC indices and conduct logistic regressions to study the determinants of enrolment. Our results indicate that older people vulnerable to social exclusion in all SPEC dimensions are less likely to enrol in Plan Sesame and those that are vulnerable in the political dimension are less likely to enrol in NHIS. Efforts should be taken to specifically enrol older people in rural areas, ethnic minorities, women and those isolated due to a lack of social support. Consideration should also be paid to modify scheme features such as eliminating the registration fee for older people in NHIS and creating administration offices for ID cards in remote communities in Senegal

Validating a HACCP System for the Production of Vegetable Shito

Vegetable shito is a novel pepper sauce product developed to cater for the needs of vegetarians. Due to its increasing popularity, it is prudent to assure its safety through the implementation of a quality management system for its production. This work was aimed at developing and validating a HACCP system for the production of vegetable shito. The HACCP system was successfully developed and validated to ensure that critical limits established for the critical control points were adequate to eliminate identified hazards. Validation was done through microbial challenge testing, and results obtained indicated that the HACCP plan developed will be effective in controlling and eliminating microbial hazards related to the vegetable shito. With such a quality management system in place, vegetable shito producers would be able to produce shito products which are safe and have a stable shelf life