Perception of the Impact of Crude Oil Exploration and Exploitation on Vernonia Amygdalina Used by Populations Residing in Abraka and Kokori, Delta State, Nigeria

Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Foundation board for their financial support in conducting the present study. The authors also thank Dr Rainer Ebel for his tutelage and Mr Omofoma Victor, University of Ilorin, Nigeria for helping with editing the references.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Heavy metals, proximate analysis and brine shrimp lethality of vernonia amygdalina and ocimum gratissimum growing in crude oil-rich delta state, nigeria

Funding Information: This research and APC was funded by Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Foundation. The authors acknowledge the financial support of the Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Foundation Scholarship to conduct the present study. The authors also thank Attah Francis Alfred of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ilorin, for arranging raw material for the study. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Can Crude Oil Exploration Influence the Phytochemicals and Bioactivity of Medicinal Plants? : A Case of Nigerian Vernonia amygdalina and Ocimum gratissimum.

Acknowledgments The authors also thank Ruangelie Edrada- Ebel of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Natural Products Metabolomics Group, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde for her contribution to the methodology. Funding The authors recognise the financial support of the Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Foundation Scholarship to conduct the present study.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Uterine contractility of plants used to facilitate childbirth in nigerian ethnomedicine

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Pregnant women in Nigeria use plant preparations to facilitate childbirth and to reduce associated pain. The rationale for this is not known and requires pharmacological validation. AIM OF STUDY: Obtain primary information regarding the traditional use of plants and analyze their uterine contractility at cellular level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Semi-structured, open interviews using questionnaires of traditional healthcare professionals and other informants triggered the collection and identification of medicinal plant species. The relative traditional importance of each medicinal plant was determined by its use-mention index. Extracts of these plants were analyzed for their uterotonic properties on an in vitro human uterine cell collagen model. RESULT: The plants Calotropis procera, Commelina africana, Duranta repens, Hyptis suaveolens, Ocimum gratissimum, Saba comorensis, Sclerocarya birrea, Sida corymbosa and Vernonia amygdalina were documented and characterized. Aqueous extracts from these nine plants induced significant sustained increases in human myometrial smooth muscle cell contractility, with varying efficiencies, depending upon time and dose of exposure. CONCLUSION: The folkloric use of several plant species during childbirth in Nigeria has been validated. Seven plants were for the first time characterized to have contractile properties on uterine myometrial cells. The results serve as ideal starting points in the search for safe, longer lasting, effective and tolerable uterotonic drug leads

Cardioprotective Effects of Curcumin-Nisin Based Poly Lactic Acid Nanoparticle on Myocardial Infarction in Guinea Pigs

Abstract Myocardial infarction (MI) is the most prevalent cause of cardiovascular death. A possible way of preventing MI maybe by dietary supplements. The present study was thus designed to ascertain the cardio-protective effect of a formulated curcumin and nisin based poly lactic acid nanoparticle (CurNisNp) on isoproterenol (ISO) induced MI in guinea pigs. Animals were pretreated for 7 days as follows; Groups A and B animals were given 0.5 mL/kg of normal saline, group C metoprolol (2 mg/kg), groups D and E CurNisNp 10 and 21 mg/kg respectively (n = 5). MI was induced on the 7th day in groups B-E animals. On the 9th day electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded, blood samples and tissue biopsies were collected for analyses. Toxicity studies on CurNisNp were carried out. MI induction caused atrial fibrillation which was prevented by pretreatment of metoprolol or CurNisNp. MI induction was also associated with increased expressions of cardiac troponin I (CTnI) and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) which were significantly reduced in guinea pig’s pretreated with metoprolol or CurNisNp (P < 0.05). The LC50 of CurNisNp was 3258.2 μg/mL. This study demonstrated that the formulated curcumin-nisin based nanoparticle confers a significant level of cardio-protection in the guinea pig and is nontoxic

Cyclotide discovery in Gentianales revisited—identification and characterization of cyclic cystine-knot peptides and their phylogenetic distribution in Rubiaceae plants

Cyclotides are a unique class of ribosomally synthesized cysteine-rich miniproteins characterized by a head-to-tail cyclized backbone and three conserved disulfide-bonds in a knotted arrangement. Originally they were discovered in the coffee-family plant Oldenlandia affinis (Rubiaceae) and have since been identified in several species of the violet, cucurbit, pea, potato, and grass families. However, the identification of novel cyclotide-containing plant species still is a major challenge due to the lack of a rapid and accurate analytical workflow in particular for large sampling numbers. As a consequence, their phylogeny in the plant kingdom remains unclear. To gain further insight into the distribution and evolution of plant cyclotides, we analyzed similar to 300 species of > 40 different families, with special emphasis on plants from the order Gentianales. For this purpose, we have developed a refined screening methodology combining chemical analysis of plant extracts and bioinformatic analysis of transcript databases. Using mass spectrometry and transcriptome-mining, we identified nine novel cyclotide-containing species and their related cyclotide precursor genes in the tribe Palicoureeae. The characterization of novel peptide sequences underlines the high variability and plasticity of the cyclotide framework, and a comparison of novel precursor proteins from Carapichea ipecacuanha illustrated their typical cyclotide gene architectures. Phylogenetic analysis of their distribution within the Psychotria alliance revealed cyclotides to be restricted to Palicourea, Margaritopsis, Notopleura, Carapichea, Chassalia, and Geophila. In line with previous reports, our findings confirm cyclotides to be one of the largest peptide families within the plant kingdom and suggest that their total number may exceed tens of thousands. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc