Brine Shrimp Cytotoxic and Lemna minor Phytotoxic Evaluations of the Methanol Extracts of the Leaves, Stem and Root Barks of Sacrocephalus latifolius

This work was aimed at evaluating the probable toxicity of the methanol extract of the leaf, stem bark and root of Sacrocephalus latifolius on Artemia nauplii and fronds of Lemna minor. The powder samples of the three morphological parts were independently extracted with soxhlet extractor apparatus using 95% methanol and were dried with aid of ritory evaporator at 40ºC. The extracts were subjected to biological activities involving brine shrimp cytotoxicity and Lemna minor test for phytotoxicity at 10-100 μg /mL respectively. The experiment was done in replicates of three. Concentration-dependent cytotoxic and phytotoxic activities were recorded for the extracts. The results revealed that extract of the leaves demonstrated significant cytotoxic and phytotoxic activities over the other parts of the plant. At 10μg/mL, the three extracts recorded little or no cytotoxic activity. However, at the maximum concentration of 1000 μg /mL, cytotoxicities of 66.67 and 3.33% were recorded for extracts of the leaf and root bark respectively, while the extract of the stem bark showed no activity. However, the LC50 of the leaf was 467.74μg /mL, and that of the other extracts were observed to be ˃1000μg /mL. The results for phytotoxicity followed a similar trend with the extracts of the leaf and root bark recording 52.96 and 23.33 % phytotoxicities respectively at 1000 μg /mL. Having shown a higher activity over the other extracts, the leaf extract of S. latifolius could serves as a natural alternative pesticide and weedicide. Keywords: Sacrocephalus latifolius, phytotoxicity, cytotoxicity, fronds, Artemia nauplii, Lemna mino

Evaluation of Potential Antimicrobial Activity of Stem Barks Extract of Persea americana (Mill) and its Solvent Fractions against Randomly Selected Pathogenic Bacteria and Fungi

Persea americana stem barks are used locally in parts of Nigeria in treating bacterial infections. This study aims to determine the antimicrobial potential of the methanol extract and fractions against S. aureus, B. substilis, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, C. albicans and Aspergilus species. The plant material was extracted with 80% methanol and partitioned into chloroform and aqueous phases which were evaluated for antimicrobial activities using agar well diffusion method. The methanol extract inhibited the growth of the test organisms; P. aeruginosa showed the most activity at 100mg/mL. The CHCl3 fraction of the plant extract was ineffective against gram negative bacteria (E. coli and P. aeruginosa) at low concentrations. The CHCl3 fraction was most effective against S. aureus at 50mg/mL but ineffective against gram-negative organisms at lower concentrations. The extract's H2O fraction had the most antimicrobial activity. The H2O fraction inhibited B. substilis at 50mg/mL (8.50±1.08mm).Alkaloids, saponins, tannins, steroids, among others were observed in the extract and fractions. Owing to the higher antimicrobial activity in the H2O fraction, the active antimicrobial compounds could be polar in nature. The higher inhibitory activity recorded by the H2O fraction supports the folkloric use of P. Americana

Euphorbia Graminea Jacq. (Euphorbiaceae): A Comparative Antimicrobial Evaluations of Stem and Root Extracts

Antimicrobial resistance is a global issue. Euphorbia plants are used locally to treat microbial infections. This study examined the antimicrobial potential of Euphorbia graminea stem and root extracts. The stems and roots extracts of E .graminea were extracted using 80% methanol and tested for antimicrobial activity at concentrations between 4.69-300mg/mL against non-clinical isolates (S. aureus, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, C. albican, A. niger). The active roots extract was fractionated using vacuum liquid chromatographic fractionations (VLC) and the resulting fractions bulked and tested against the organisms at 6.25-100mg/mL.  The MIC of extracts and vlc bulked fractions were tested at 0.39-6.25 mg/mL.  The root extract recorded higher antimicrobial activities over the stem extract especially against S. aureus and E.coli, hence was fractionated. Among the vlc sub-fractions of the roots extract, fractions A (2) recorded no activity against the test organisms while fractions C (9-10) recorded 7.50 and 3.50 mm against S. aureus and E. coli only at the maximum concentration of 100mg/mL. However, fractions B (3-8) conspicuously gave zones of inhibitions far higher than the other fractions. This study has shown that the roots extract of E. graminea has higher antimicrobial activities more than the stems, further justifying the ethno-botanical potentials of the plant in treating skin infections

Securinega virosa leaf and root bark extracts: a comparative anti-cancer study against human breast (MCF-7) and lung (NCI-H460) cancer cell lines

Securinega virosa (Roxb. ex.Willd.) is a medicinal plant with folkloric use in the treatment of cancer and other diseases and has earlier shown significant cytotoxic and growth-inhibitory prospect in our past work. The methanol extracts of the leaves and root barks obtained by cold maceration were screened for anti-cancer properties on breast (MCF-7) and lung (NCI-H460) cancer cells at 1-250 μg/mL adopting the SRB assay. The active leaf extract was partitioned into aqueous and chloroform fractions which were further tested at 1-100 μg/mL on the cell lines. The leaf and root bark extracts exhibited higher sensitivities on MCF-7 than NCI-H460 cell lines. At 100 μg/mL the leaf extract showed cytotoxicity and growth-inhibitory activities of –1.09 and +61.35 % on MCF-7 and NCI-H460 cell lines which later increased to –18.67 and +77.13 %, respectively at 250 μg/mL with GI 50 and TGI of 42 and 63 μg/mL on MCF-7 as well and 98.01 and 132.50 μg/mL on both cells. At the maximum concentration, the root bark extract recorded cytotoxicity of –2.60 % on MCF-7, and a growth-inhibitory activity of +57.9 % on NCI-H460 cell lines. Fractionation of the leaf extract improved its activity at GI50, TGI of 28.11, 34.22 μg/mL on MCF-7 and 42 and 52.69 μg/ mL against NCI-H460 cells, respectively. The traditional use of this plant in the treatment of tumor ailment has further been justified by these results

Impact of Marketing of Deposit Money Bank Services on Customers’ Patronage and Loyalty. Empirical Study of Five Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

Marketing helps to attract its target customers thereby creating a relationship where exchange can be made possible. However, communication gap in deposit money banks constitute a major problem in the banking system and there is a need to bridge such gap as it affects customer's loyalty and patronage significantly. The objective of this study is to examine the effects of marketing of deposit money bank services on customer patronage and loyalty. This study examined five (5) deposit money banks which were chosen at random. Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), United Bank for Africa (UBA), Eco Bank Plc, First Bank Plc and Skye Bank Plc. Primary data was used in the course of the study through the use of questionnaires in ensuring that the necessary data were obtained for the analysis. A total number of one hundred and fifteen (115) copies of the questionnaire were administered to the customers of the selected banks. The copies of the returned questionnaire were a hundred and thirteen (113) which were coded in the Statistical Package for social science (SPSS 23). A linear regression model was adopted in order to measure the effect of the independent variables on the dependent variables. The study found that marketing of deposit money bank has a significant effect on customer patronage and loyalty. The study concludes that marketing is highly essential to the survival of any bank thereby ensuring communication is effective between the bank and their customers. The study recommends that banks should ensure that effective marketing strategies such as; creating awareness of the products and services are developed by adopting marketing principles that will enable them to acquire more customers and have a long-term relationship with the existing ones

Brine Shrimp Cytotoxic and <i>Lemna minor</i> Phytotoxic Evaluations of the Methanol Extracts of the Leaves, Stem and Root Barks of <i>Sacrocephalus latifolius</i>

This work was aimed at evaluating the probable toxicity of the methanol extract of the leaf, stem bark and root of Sacrocephalus latifolius on Artemia nauplii and fronds of Lemna minor. The powder samples of the three morphological parts were independently extracted with soxhlet extractor apparatus using 95% methanol and were dried with aid of ritory evaporator at 40ºC. The extracts were subjected to biological activities involving brine shrimp cytotoxicity and Lemna minor test for phytotoxicity at 10-100 μg /mL respectively. The experiment was done in replicates of three. Concentration-dependent cytotoxic and phytotoxic activities were recorded for the extracts. The results revealed that extract of the leaves demonstrated significant cytotoxic and phytotoxic activities over the other parts of the plant. At 10μg/mL, the three extracts recorded little or no cytotoxic activity. However, at the maximum concentration of 1000 μg /mL, cytotoxicities of 66.67 and 3.33% were recorded for extracts of the leaf and root bark respectively, while the extract of the stem bark showed no activity. However, the LC50 of the leaf was 467.74μg /mL, and that of the other extracts were observed to be ˃1000μg /mL. The results for phytotoxicity followed a similar trend with the extracts of the leaf and root bark recording 52.96 and 23.33 % phytotoxicities respectively at 1000 μg /mL. Having shown a higher activity over the other extracts, the leaf extract of S. latifolius could serves as a natural alternative pesticide and weedicide.&#x0D; Keywords: Sacrocephalus latifolius, phytotoxicity, cytotoxicity, fronds, Artemia nauplii, Lemna minor</jats:p

Comparative phytochemical and growth inhibitory studies on the leaf and root bark extracts of securinega Virosa (roxb ex. Willd) baill (euphoriaceae)

Securinega virosa is one of the plants used in South-western part of Nigeria in treating cancer. This claim was evaluated using the guinea corn radicle length inhibition assay for anti-proliferation. The growth inhibitory tests were carried out between 1-30 mg/ in a period of 24-96 h while the phytochemical screening was carried out on the plant parts using standard methods. At 24 h, the control seeds had an average radicle length of 2.33 ± 0.63 mm while seeds treated with 20 and 30 mg/ml of extract showed 0.23 ± 0.11 (mm) and 100% growth inhibition respectively. At 96 h, an average length of 0.53 ± 0.25 mm (99 % inhibition) was observed for the leaf extract at 20 mg/ml and 100 % growth inhibition for seeds treated with 30 mg/ml. The root bark extract on the other hand, showed 96.09 and 99.34 % growth reductions, respectively at 20 mg/ml and 30 mg/ml concentrations. The results show a significant growth inhibitory effect of the plant extracts, particularly the leaf extract, hence can be considered in preparing recipes for tumor-related ailments. Further work, especially chromatographic analysis leading to isolation and the use of appropriate human cell lines are needed to support this. Keywords: Securinega virosa, antiproliferation, Sorghum bicolor, Phytochemicals, Radicl

Euphorbia graminea Jacq. (Euphorbiaceae): The antimicrobial assessment of the extract and fractions of the leaves

This study was carried out as a result of the belief that certain medicinal plants have antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria and fungi species, hence the in vitro antimicrobial activity of the extract and fractions of Euphorbia graminea was performed against bacteria (Staphyloccocus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and fungal (Candida albican) non-clinical isolates. The methanol extract of Euphorbia graminea was fractionated via solvent-solvent partitioning and vacuum liquid chromatographic techniques and the corresponding fractions were tested for phytochemicals and were biologically tested against the organisms employing the agar well diffusion method. While the extract and partitioned fractions were tested at concentrations between 4.69-300 mg/mL, the vlc subfractions were tested at 12.50-200 mg/mL against the organisms. The MIC of the active vlc subfractions was also tested (9.38-37.5 mg/mL). The alkaloids as well as glycosides, tannins, terpenes and steroids were detected among the extracts and fractions of E. graminea. The extract showed mild activities against the test organisms with the highest zone of inhibition of 7.00 mm recorded at 300 mg/mL against S.aureus. The activities of both extract at 300 mg/mL, showed notable increase against the organisms used, with zones of inhibition of the aqueous extract been 10.50 and 9.50mm and for the chloroform extract, 16.50 and 13.05mm (S. aureus and E. coli respectively). The vlc sub-fraction 6-8 (C) among the other subfractions was more potent against S. aureus, E. coli and C. albican as 16.50, 12.00 and 0.50 mm zones of inhibition were recorded at 100 mg/mL. The zones of inhibition against these organisms later increased to 20.00, 18.50 and 15.00 mm at 200 mg/mL. This study has highlighted the fact that the plant E. graminea has antimicrobial activity which occurs more in the partitioned chloroform and its chromatographic vacuum liquid subfraction (6-8) that gave the highest activity. However, in order to isolate the active biological components and to determine their safety in drug production, further studies are needed.</jats:p

Hypolipidemic activity of ethyl acetate fraction of methanolic seed extract of Persia Americana mill (Lauraceae) in rats

Parts of Persea americana Mill are used for various ethnomedicinal purposes. The aqueous seed extract is used locally by herbalists for the treatment of hyperlipidemia. In this study, our objective was to investigate the possible hypolipidemic effect of ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) of the methanolic seed extract on olive oil- induced hyperlipidemia in rats. Oral administration of olive oil (5 ml/kg) resulted in the elevation of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) and glucose and reduction in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC). However, acute treatment with various doses of EAF of the methanolic seed extract of P. americana caused a significant (PPersea americana seed showed hypolipidemic effect and may serve as possible alternative treatment for hyperlipidemia.Keywords: Total cholesterol; triglycerides; high density lipoprotein; low density lipoprotein; olive oil; arterogenic index of plasmaJournal of Pharmaceutical and Allied Sciences, Vol. 10 No. 3 (2013

Water quality of Bomadi Creek in the Niger Delta of Nigeria: assessment of some physicochemical properties, metal concentrations, and water quality index

AbstractIn this study, some physicochemical properties, concentrations of metals (Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Fe, and Mn), and the overall water quality from Bomadi Creek in the Niger Delta of Nigeria were assessed over two seasons. Water samples were collected from designated areas along the course of the river and were prepared for analysis by standard procedures. The ranges of the mean values for some water quality indicators were found to be as follows: pH: 7.40–8.17, turbidity (NTU): 20.5–42.3, total dissolved solids (mg L−1): 27.5–44.7, total suspended solids (mg L−1): 34.1–61.7, dissolved oxygen (mg L−1): 3.07–6.53, biochemical oxygen demand (mg L−1): 0.13–2.77, total hardness (mg L−1): 28.3–60.0, and nitrate (mg L−1): 0.37–0.92. Only the turbidity values exceeded the permissible limit of 5 NTU. The concentration ranges (mg L−1) for the six metal ions determined were: Pb: 0.01–0.02, Cd: 0.01–0.03, Zn: 0.1–0.3, Cu: 0.03–0.07, Fe: 0.6–0.9, and Mn: 0.01–0.05. There were no significant variations in many of the locations between the wet and dry seasons. The comprehensive pollution index values indicated severe pollution of the Creek, with Cd, Fe, and turbidity, identified as the major contributors to the deteriorated water quality. The sources of high loads of Cd, Fe, and turbidity in this river system include discharges from oil production activities, speed boats, illegal bunkering, and domestic waste dumps. Principal component and cluster analysis were used to establish relationships between the various parameters and sites. The risk assessment indicated adverse non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks arising from human consumption of the water. The risk is higher for children than adults. Therefore, the Bomadi water is considered unsuitable for drinking and other domestic purposes, and remediation is required.</jats:p