Biomarkers of Wound Healing

The prevalence of conditions that eventually result in poor wound healing abounds as humans advance in age. With the increased possibility of wounds not healing comes a leap in morbidity and mortality with its accompanying socioeconomic impact. It is therefore relevant to understand what accounts for aberrant wound healing and more importantly the molecular markers involved in this pathological state. There are known events associated with the wound healing process, spanning from cellular involvement to the role of specific proteins such as cytokines and growth factors that are significant biomarkers in the wound healing process. This chapter discusses biomarkers relevant to the wound healing process, and these biomarkers go a long way to help identify and stratify nonhealing patients for whom biomarker-guided approaches may be of importance clinically in their management

Mechanism of Action of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs

The use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) dates back to thousands of years when man used natural sources of these agents in a lot of pain and inflammatory conditions. The tone for modern day discovery and use of NSAIDs was set with the discovery of aspirin. Today in addition to aspirin, a host of other NSAIDs of varying potency and efficacy is employed in the management of pain and inflammatory conditions. This chapter looks with key interest in the existing and evolving role of NSAIDs in therapeutics with emphasis on the current insights into their mechanism of action and side effect profiles associated with its use in pain and inflammation as well as its potential therapeutic benefits in cancer chemotherapy

Antibiotic Use in Poultry Production and Its Effects on Bacterial Resistance

A surge in the development and spread of antibiotic resistance has become a major cause for concern. Over the past few decades, no major new types of antibiotics have been produced and almost all known antibiotics are increasingly losing their activity against pathogenic microorganisms. The levels of multi-drug resistant bacteria have also increased. It is known that worldwide, more than 60% of all antibiotics that are produced find their use in animal production for both therapeutic and non-therapeutic purposes. The use of antimicrobial agents in animal husbandry has been linked to the development and spread of resistant bacteria. Poultry products are among the highest consumed products worldwide but a lot of essential antibiotics are employed during poultry production in several countries; threatening the safety of such products (through antimicrobial residues) and the increased possibility of development and spread of microbial resistance in poultry settings. This chapter documents some of the studies on antibiotic usage in poultry farming; with specific focus on some selected bacterial species, their economic importance to poultry farming and reports of resistances of isolated species from poultry settings (farms and poultry products) to essential antibiotics

Antimicrobial Agents: Antibacterial Agents, Anti-biofilm Agents, Antibacterial Natural Compounds, and Antibacterial Chemicals

The surge in antimicrobial resistance coupled with the decline in the antimicrobial drug pipeline calls for the discovery and development of new agents to tackle antibiotic resistance and prevent a return to a post-antibiotic era. Several factors account for resistance of microbes; some are natural and others are acquired. Natural selection, presence of efflux pumps, impermeable cell wall, biofilm formation and quorum sensing are some of the factors. Though it is difficult to outwit the pathogens, the discovery and development of compounds with pleiotropic modes or mechanisms of action different from the conventional drugs currently being used can help us tackle antimicrobial resistance. Natural products have been known to be a rich source of bioactive compounds with diverse structures and functional group chirality. Various reports indicate medicinal plants with antibacterial, anti-biofilm, efflux pump inhibition, wound healing effects or properties and others used for upper respiratory and urinary tract infections. There is an urgent need to research into natural products particularly plants for antimicrobial agents including antibacterial agents, anti-biofilm agents, antibacterial natural compounds and antibacterial chemicals. This chapter throws more light on such antimicrobials

Antimicrobial and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Pterygota macrocarpa and Cola gigantea (Sterculiaceae)

Pterygota macrocarpa and Cola gigantea are African medicinal plants used in traditional medicine for the treatment of sores, skin infections, and other inflammatory conditions including pains. This study therefore aims at investigating the antimicrobial properties of ethanol leaf and stem bark extracts of P. macrocarpa and C. gigantea using the agar diffusion and the micro-dilution techniques and also determining the anti-inflammatory properties of the extracts of these plants in carrageenan-induced foot edema in seven-day old chicks. The minimum inhibitory concentration of both ethanol leaf and bark extracts of P. macrocarpa against the test organisms was from 0.125 to 2.55 mg/mL and that of C. gigantea extracts was 0.125 to 2.75 mg/mL. Extracts with concentration of 50 mg/mL were most active against the test organisms according to the agar diffusion method. All the extracts of P. macrocarpa and C. gigantea at 30, 100, and 300 mg/kg body weight except ethanol leaf extract of C. gigantea exhibited significant anti-inflammatory effects (P ≤ 0.001)

Metabolic syndrome among schizophrenic patients: A comparative cross-sectional study in the middle belt of Ghana

The study determined the prevalence ofMetS in patients with schizophrenia at the Psychiatric Unit of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi, Ghana. This comparative cross-sectional study recruited 348 schizophrenic patients comprising 236 antipsychotic-treated and 112 newly diagnosed treatment-na¨ıve patients. The MetS prevalence was assessed based on World Health Organization (WHO), International Diabetes Federation (IDF), and the National Cholesterol Education Programme, Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATP III) criteria. The overall prevalence of MetS was 14.1%, 20.4%, and 23.6% using NCEP ATP III, WHO, and IDF criteria, respectively, compared to 7.8%, 3.9%, and 2.2% reported in the generalGhanaian population.The prevalence was significantly higher among treated psychiatric patients compared to treatment-na¨ıve group based on NCEP ATP III (17.8% versus 6.2%; p = 0.0001), WHO (26.2% versus 8.0%; p \u3c 0.0001), and IDF (30.3% versus 10.0%; p \u3c 0.0001). MetS was prevalent among patients on atypical antipsychotics compared to typical antipsychotics irrespective of the criteria used (i.e., 17.1% versus 11.1% for NCEP ATP III; 29.5% versus 25.9% for WHO; and 44.3% versus 18.5% for IDF). Using logistic regression model, obesity, raised fasting blood sugar, raised total cholesterol, and decreased high density lipoprotein were observed to be significant predictors of MetS (p\u3c0.05).The study found high prevalence of MetS in Ghanaians with schizophrenia and higher prevalence rate of MetS associated with monotherapy. Regular monitoring of cardiometabolic parameters should be an important therapeutic objective in the management of these patients

Medicinal Plants and Natural Products with Demonstrated Wound Healing Properties

This section reviews the current literature on medicinal plants including extracts, fractions, isolated compounds and natural products that have been demonstrated to have wound healing properties. Various electronic databases such as PubMed, Science Direct, SciFinder and Google Scholar were employed to search for plants, natural plant constituents and natural products that have been scientifically demonstrated to have wound healing activity using in vivo and in vitro wound models. Parameters used in the evaluation of an agent with wound healing properties include rate of wound contraction, tensile strength, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, hydroxyproline content assay and histological investigations including re-epithelization, collagen synthesis, granulation, proliferation and differentiation of fibroblasts and keratinocytes in excision and incision wound model studies. Eighty-five medicinal plants belonging to 45 families, phytoconstituents including phenolics, oils and other substances including honey were identified as potential wound healing agents or possess wound healing properties using various wound healing models

African Plants with Antiproliferative Properties

Plant-derived compounds have been an integral component in man’s quest to discover ideal anticancer agents. A number of new agents are currently in clinical development with promising selective activity against cancer cell lines and cancer-related molecular targets. This book chapter discusses 14 of such compounds isolated from African plants from 15 plant families. Also contained in this book chapter are compounds from African plants that hold prospect as potential anticancer agents as informed by their in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies. It is, therefore, worthwhile that researchers in the African continent and the world over should keep on working on identifying biomolecules with potential in cancer management

PHYTOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION AND ANTI-MICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF CLAUSENA ANISATA (WILLD), HOOK.

Background: Clausena anisata belongs to the family Rutaceae, a shrub widely used in West Africa for the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections of the skin including boils, ringworm and eczema. The study was designed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and phytochemical screening of ethanol leaf extract of C. anisata (CLE). Method: Antimicrobial activity of CLE was investigated using agar well diffusion and micro-dilution methods against four Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus substilis NCTC 10073, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212, Bacillus thuringiensis ATCC 13838) and two Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 4853, Proteus vulgaris ATCC 4175) and a clinical isolate of Candida albicans. Results: CLE was active against all test organisms with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), range of 0.5 to 7.0 mg/mL against Gram-positive bacteria, 2.5 to 1.0 mg/mL against Gram-negative bacteria and 5.5mg/mL against C. albicans. The MICs of the methanol fraction of CLE were 0.6 mg to 5.0/mL and 1.0 to 3.0 mg/mL for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria respectively. Chloroform fraction had MIC of 3.0 to 7.5 mg/mL and 2.0 to 6.5 mg/mL for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, respectively and petroleum ether fraction had 4.5 to 8.0 mg/mL for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The CLE exhibited static action against all test organisms within a range of 0.5 to 22.0 mg/mL. Phytochemical screening of C. anisata revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, glycosides and alkaloids. HPLC finger-printing of the CLE and its fractions were determined. Conclusion: These results may justify the medicinal uses of C. anisata for the treatment of microbial infection