Prenatal skull radiography and calvaria histogenesis in Uda and Yankasa breeds of sheep

The anterior fontanelle was opened and radiolucent in the second trimester; at the third trimester, the fontanelle began to shrink and finally closed at birth and became radiopaque. The borders of the orbit and the teeth were both radiolucent and undifferentiated at the second trimester and at the third trimester, and these regions became radiopaque at the second and third trimester, respectively. The histomorphology of the calvarium in the first-trimester foetus had three layers consisting of the mesenchymal and osteoblast cells; as the foetus ages within the second trimester, the mesenchymal cells were transformed into osteoblast, colonies, primitive bone spicules, matured bone spicules, and primitive trabeculae respective, in the third trimester, the primitive trabeculae developed into a matured trabeculae, in the day old, the matured trabeculae transforms into a primitive spongy bone. However, this process occurs earlier in Yankasa than in Uda. The histomorphology of the calvarium during foetal life is similar in the Uda and Yankasa. However, the stages of calvarium development occur earlier and faster in Yankasa than Uda of the same ages. This implies that foetal development and time of parturition could occur earlier in the Yankasa compared to the Uda breeds

Development of cockleshell (Anadara granosa) derived CaCO3 nanoparticle for doxorubicin delivery

Despite the progress made in cancer treatment, difficulties are encountered with tumour targeting due to cancer structural complexity. The synthesis of homogenous calcium carbonate (CaCO3) nanoparticles could be a carrier for doxorubicin in the management of bone cancer due to its osteoconductive and physicochemical properties with simple synthesis method to produce large scale. Among the nanocarriers, CaCO3 nanoparticles have exhibited promising potential as targeting drug nanocarrier. The aim of this study is to synthesised and characterised doxorubicin-conjugated CaCO3 nanoparticle (CS-CaCO3NP-DOX), using a simple precipitation and mechanical approach to synthesise homogeneous CaCO3NP from cockleshell. The oven-dried nanoparticles were further characterised for its physicochemical properties before and after conjugating with doxorubicin. A homogenous aragonite, spherical, porous nanocarrier was obtained with a mean diameter of 24.9 nm and zeta potential of –21 mV. The energy dispersion X-ray analysis revealed high proportion of calcium as a major element in the nanoparticle. The spectrum peak suggests little alteration upon incorporation of doxorubicin. Higher loading content and encapsulation efficiency were recorded with CS-CaCO3NP. These properties underscore the potential of CS-CaCO3NP in the delivery of doxorubicin, thus giving it a high potential for application in the delivery of the anticancer in the management of cancers

Fabrication, characterization and cytotoxicity of spherical-shaped conjugated gold-cockle shell derived calcium carbonate nanoparticles for biomedical applications

The evolution of nanomaterial in science has brought about a growing increase in nanotechnology, biomedicine, and engineering fields. This study was aimed at fabrication and characterization of conjugated gold-cockle shell-derived calcium carbonate nanoparticles (Au-CSCaCO3NPs) for biomedical application. The synthetic technique employed used gold nanoparticle citrate reduction method and a simple precipitation method coupled with mechanical use of a Programmable roller-ball mill. The synthesized conjugated nanomaterial was characterized for its physicochemical properties using transmission electron microscope (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). However, the intricacy of cellular mechanisms can prove challenging for nanomaterial like Au-CSCaCO3NPs and thus, the need for cytotoxicity assessment. The obtained spherical-shaped nanoparticles (light-green purplish) have an average diameter size of 35 ± 16 nm, high carbon and oxygen composition. The conjugated nanomaterial, also possesses a unique spectra for aragonite polymorph and carboxylic bond significantly supporting interactions between conjugated nanoparticles. The negative surface charge and spectra absorbance highlighted their stability. The resultant spherical shaped conjugated Au-CSCaCO3NPs could be a great nanomaterial for biomedical applications

Curcumin-loaded cockle shell-derived calcium carbonate nanoparticles: a novel strategy for the treatment of lead-induced hepato-renal toxicity in rats

Lead (Pb) toxicity affects the hepatic and renal systems resulting to homeostasis imbalance. Curcumin is a strong antioxidant but has restrained clinical applications due to its poor bioavailability. Nanomedicine showed promising potentials in drug delivery and has brought forth the use of cockle shell-derived aragonite calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CSCaCO3NP) to enhance the effectiveness and targeted delivery of curcumin (Cur). Thus, this study aimed at evaluating the therapeutic effect of curcumin-loaded CSCaCO3NP (Cur- CSCaCO3NP) on lead-induced hepato-renal toxicity in rats. Thirty-six male adults Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into five groups. All groups contained six rats each except for group A, which contained 12 rats. All rats apart from the rats in group A (control) were orally administered a flat dose of 50 mg/kg of lead for four weeks. Six rats from group A and B were euthanized after four weeks of lead induction. Oral administration of curcumin (100 mg/kg) for group C and Cur-CSCaCO3NP (50 and 100 mg/kg) for groups D and E respectively, commenced immediately after 4 weeks of lead induction which lasted for 4 weeks. All rats were euthanized at the 8th week of the experiment. Further, biochemical, histological and hematological analysis were performed. The findings revealed a biochemical, hematological and histological changes in lead-induced rats. However, treatments with the Cur-CSCaCO3NP and free curcumin reversed the aforementioned changes. Although, Cur-CSCaCO3NP presented better therapeutic effects on lead-induced toxicity in rats when compared to free curcumin as there was significant improvements in hematological, biochemical and histological changes which is parallel with attenuation of oxidative stress. The findings of the current study hold great prospects for Cur-CSCaCO3NP as a novel approach for effective oral treatment of lead-induced hepato-renal impairments

Cockle shell-derived calcium carbonate (aragonite) nanoparticles: a dynamite to nanomedicine

Cockle shell is an external covering of small, salt water edible clams (Anadara granosa) that dwells in coastal area. This abundant biomaterial is hard, cheap and readily available with high content of calcium carbonate in aragonite polymorphic form. At present, cockle shell-derived calcium carbonate nanoparticles (CSCaCO3NPs) with dual applications has remarkably drawn significant attention of researchers in nanotechnology as a nanocarrier for delivery of different categories of drugs and as bone scaffold due to its beneficial potentials such as biocompatibility, osteoconductivity, pH sensitivity, slow biodegradation, hydrophilic nature and a wide safety margin. In addition, CSCaCO3NP possesses structural porosity, a large surface area and functional group endings for electrostatic ion bonds with high loading capacity. Thus, it maintains great potential in the drug delivery system and a large number of biomedical utilisations. The pioneering researchers adopted a non-hazardous top-down method for the synthesis of CSCaCO3NP with subsequent improvements that led to the better spherical diameter size obtained recently which is suitable for drug delivery. The method is therefore a simple, low cost and environmentally friendly, which involves little procedural steps without stringent temperature management and expensive hazardous chemicals or any carbonation methods. This paper presents a review on a few different types of nanoparticles with emphasis on the versatile most recent advancements and achievements on the synthesis and developments of CSCaCO3NP aragonite with its applications as a nanocarrier for drug delivery in nanomedicine

Naturally produced lovastatin modifies the histology and proteome profile of goat skeletal muscle

Enteric methane formation in ruminants is one of the major contributors to climate change. We have reported that supplementation of naturally produced lovastatin reduced methane emissions in goats without adversely affecting rumen fermentation and animal performance, except that at higher level, lovastatin can have a negative effect on the palatability of the formulated diet. As statins are associated with the development of muscle-related adverse effects at higher than recommended therapeutic doses, this study was conducted to examine the effects of lovastatin on the histology and proteome profile of goat skeletal muscle. A total of 20 intact male Saanen goats were randomly assigned in equal numbers to 4 groups, and fed with a total mixed ration containing 50% rice straw, 22.8% concentrates and 27.2% of various proportions of untreated or treated palm kernel cake (PKC) to achieve the target daily intake levels of 0 (Control), 2 (Low), 4 (Medium) or 6 (High) mg lovastatin/kg body weight (BW). Histological examination discovered that the longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle of animals from the Medium and High treatment groups showed abnormalities in terms of necrosis, degeneration, interstitial space and vacuolation. Western blot analysis conducted on the myosin heavy chain showed that the immunoreactivity of myosin heavy chain in the High treatment group was significantly lower than the Control, Low and Medium treatment groups. Comparisons between control and lovastatin-treated groups demonstrated that lovastatin supplementation induced complex modifications to the protein expression patterns of the longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle of the goat. There were 30, 26 and 24 proteins differentially expressed in Low, Medium and High treatment groups respectively, when compared to the Control group. Supplementation of lovastatin down-regulated proteins involved in carbohydrate and creatine metabolism, indicative of reduced energy production, and may have contributed to the skeletal muscle damage. Supplementation of naturally produced lovastatin induced muscle damage in longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle of goats with increasing dosages, particularly at 6mg/kg BW. In addition, proteomics analysis revealed that lovastatin supplementation induced complex modifications to the protein expressions of skeletal muscle of goats which may have contributed to the observed skeletal muscle damage. Present study suggested that supplementation of naturally-produced lovastatin at 6mg/kg BW could adversely affecting health and wellbeing of the animals

Histological and safety evaluation of cockle shell-derived CaCO₃ nanoparticle loaded with doxorubicin in dogs

Detrimental tissue effects are associated with chemotherapeutics, despite research progress in cancer treatments. Difficulties are still encountered with tumour targeting due to cancer structural complexity. Doxorubicin (DOX) is a potent anticancer lacking cell specificity leading to reduction in its efficacy. Meanwhile, increase therapeutic targeting to tumour has been shown to have promising therapeutic effect using nanomedicine. Encapsulation of anticancer within bio-nanomaterial aids in their delivery to cancer tissues, thus, ameliorates off-targeted effects of drugs, which has necessitated the importance of exploring the potency of cockle shell-derived calcium carbonate nanoparticle (CS-CaCO3NP) for DOX delivery safely. Homogenous CSCaCO3NP with sufficient physicochemical properties which exhibits promising potential as targeting nanocarrier is desired for chemotherapy. Stimuli-responsive nanocarriers have received great attention in drug delivery towards aiding better selectivity and specificity of drugs in the plasma circulation. DOX is associated with cardio-hepato-renal toxicity effects which hampered its clinical application. CSCaCO3NP is a biodegradable carrier with considerable potential for DOX targeted delivery. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of CS-CaCO3NP-DOX in dogs. The homogeneity of CS-CaCO3NP was obtained through a top-down approach with the help of a roller mill. The CS-CaCO3NP and CS-CaCO3NP-DOX were characterized for physicochemical properties using Transmission Electron Microscopy, Field Emission Electron Microscopy, Zeta Sizer, X-ray Diffraction, Fourier Transformed infrared, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller techniques. A dissolution non-Fickian control based release kinetics using dialysis bag was employed to evaluate the release pattern. A bioanalytical methods were developed on High Liquid Pressure Chromatography for pharmacokinetic studies in six dogs, which were equally divided and given free DOX and CS-CaCO3NP-DOX for study, a total of 15 healthy dogs were randomized into 5 groups. The Dogs were subjected to slow intravenous infusion up to 5 doses at every 3 weeks interval with (i) normal saline, (ii) DOX 30 mg/m2, and the experimental groups; CS-CaCO3NP-DOX at (iii) high dose, 50 mg/m2, (iv) clinical dose, 30 mg/m2 and (v) low dose, 20 mg/m2. Physical and clinical examination, radiography, electrocardiography, blood profile, cardiac injury biomarkers, histopathology and ultrastructure were employed to evaluate the toxicity and safety while blood profile, tumour biomarker, tumour size and survival rate were used to evaluate the dogs. A homogenous, spherical, porous pH-responsive CSCaCO3NP was obtained with a mean diameter and zeta potential of 24.9 ± 4.07 nm and -26.1 mV respectively. While a mean diameter and zeta potential of CSCaCO3NP- DOX were 39.4 ± 3.04 nm -34.7 mV, respectively. The energy dispersion X-ray analysis revealed a high proportion of calcium with a spectrum peak on FTIR spectra suggesting no alteration upon incorporation of DOX into CS-CaCO3NP with a higher loading capacity and encapsulation efficiency were recorded. An excellent bioanalytical method with high extraction yield and linearity of 89.87% and 0.997 was discovered. The kinetic release profile in neutral buffer medium had 13.7% of DOX released from CS-CaCO3NP after 96 hours, with about 25% concentration release in weak acid medium, while 52.6% of DOX were release from free-DOX in neutral buffer medium. CS-CaCO3NP-DOX increased half-life and area under the curve, with lower clearance rate as compared to free DOX. The cumulative dose of 150 mg/m2 of free-DOX over 15 weeks revealed significant (p0.05) changes as when compared to those given normal saline. This study also revealed no significant changes in systemic toxicity effects in dogs and thus, confirmed the safety of the repeated dose administration CS-CaCO3NP-DOX (30 mg/m2), which improves the quality of life and efficacy in dogs with non-resectable tumours when given 4-5 doses of CS-CaCO3NP-DOX 30 mg/m2. This finding offers great hope to reduce toxicity in dogs with cancer that might undergoes long-term regiment with DOX. These properties underscore the potential of CS-CaCO3NP in the delivery of DOX as new intelligent composite, giving it a high potential in the delivery of the anticancer in the management of dog with cancers

Curcumin Attenuates Lead-Induced Cerebellar Toxicity in Rats via Chelating Activity and Inhibition of Oxidative Stress

Lead (Pb) is a toxic, environmental heavy metal that induces serious clinical defects in all organs, with the nervous system being its primary target. Curcumin is the main active constituent of turmeric rhizome (Curcuma longa) with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This study is aimed at evaluating the therapeutic potentials of curcumin on Pb-induced neurotoxicity. Thirty-six male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into five groups with 12 rats in the control (normal saline) and 6 rats in each of groups, i.e., the lead-treated group (LTG) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for four weeks), recovery group (RC) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for four weeks), treatment group 1 (Cur100) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for four weeks, followed by 100 mg/kg curcumin for four weeks) and treatment group 2 (Cur200) (50 mg/kg lead acetate for four weeks, followed by 200 mg/kg curcumin for four weeks). All experimental groups received oral treatment via orogastric tube on alternate days. Motor function was assessed using a horizontal bar method. The cerebellar concentration of Pb was evaluated using ICP-MS technique. Pb-administered rats showed a significant decrease in motor scores and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activity with increased Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. In addition, a marked increase in cerebellar Pb concentration and alterations in the histological architecture of the cerebellar cortex layers were recorded. However, treatment with curcumin improved the motor score, reduced Pb concentration in the cerebellum, and ameliorated the markers of oxidative stress, as well as restored the histological architecture of the cerebellum. The results of this study suggest that curcumin attenuates Pb-induced neurotoxicity via inhibition of oxidative stress and chelating activity

Toxicity and Safety Evaluation of Doxorubicin-Loaded Cockleshell-Derived Calcium Carbonate Nanoparticle in Dogs

Doxorubicin (DOX) is a potent anticancer agent with cytotoxic effects which limit its clinical usage. This effect is due to its nonselective nature causing injury to the cells as a result of reactive free oxygen radical’s release. Cockleshell-derived calcium carbonate nanoparticle (CS-CaCO3NP) is a pH-responsive carrier with targeted delivery potentials. This study aimed at evaluating the toxicity effects of repeated dose administration of DOX-loaded CS-CaCO3NP in healthy dogs. Fifteen dogs with an average body weight of 15 kg were randomized equally into 5 groups. Dogs were subjected to 5 doses at every 3-week interval with (i) normal saline, (ii) DOX, 30 mg/m2, and the experimental groups: CS-CaCO3NP-DOX at (iii) high dose, 50 mg/m2, (iv) clinical dose, 30 mg/m2, and (v) low dose, 20 mg/m2. Radiographs, electrocardiography, and blood samples were collected before every treatment for haematology, serum biochemistry, and cardiac injury assessment. Heart and kidney tissues were harvested after euthanasia for histological and ultrastructural evaluation. The cumulative dose of DOX 150 mg/m2 over 15 weeks revealed significant effects on body weight, blood cells, functional enzymes, and cardiac injury biomarkers with alterations in electrocardiogram, myocardium, and renal tissue morphology. However, the dogs given CS-CaCO3NP-DOX 150 mg/m2 and below did not show any significant change in toxicity biomarker as compared to those given normal saline. The study confirmed the safety of repeated dose administration of CS-CaCO3NP-DOX (30 mg/m2) for 5 cycles in dogs. This finding offers opportunity to dogs with cancer that might require long-term administration of DOX without adverse effects

Pre-natal Morphology of Male Reproductive Organs of Camelus dromedarius

The reproductive system is a key to survival of specie. The male reproductive system plays a vital role in the production, formation, maturation, and transportation of spermatozoa to the female specie.  Little attention has been given to the male fetal reproductive system in Camelus dromedarius. The study was aimed to document the normal gross morphology of the male fetal one-humped dromedary. Forty-five (45) male fetal reproductive organs were used. The fetus age was determined classified into 3 trimesters. The foetuses were dissected from the xiphoid region through the abdominal wall to the preputial orifice to expose and examine the reproductive organs. Morphologically, the testicles were oblong, pale in color and located in the abdominal cavity at the first trimester, moved caudally with a condensing gubernaculum at the 2nd trimester. But did not descend into the scrotum at the third trimester. Ultimately, the testis did not descend before birth. The epididymis was close in contact with the testis throughout its fetal life. Vas deference coursed from the cauda epididymis to the prostate at the base of the bladder. The penis presented a cylindrical form at the first trimester. It was distinct into base, body and glans at the second trimester with a slight arc mid-way of its body. The sigmoid flexure was noted to be curlier at the third trimester. The reproductive organs of the male fetal Camelus dromedarius have some considerable differences from other domesticated animals especially the ruminant