Hepatoprotective and nephroprotective activities of Solenostemon monostachyus P. Beauv (Lamiaceae) leaf extract

Background: Solenostemon monostachyus P. Beauv (family Lamiaceae), a medicinal herb in West and Central Africa, is ethnomedically employed as an antidote for poison and for the treatment of different diseases and ailments. Objective: To investigate the hepatoprotective and renoprotective effects of S.  monostachyus leaf extract against paracetamol- induced liver and kidney injuries in rats. Methodology: Hepato-renoprotective effects of S. monostachyus ethanol leaf extract was evaluated against paracetamol- induced liver and kidney injuries in rats. The liver protective property of the ethanol leaf extract (75-225 mg/kg) was investigated by the assessment of liver function parameters, liver antioxidant enzymes and histopathology, while the renoprotective property was evaluated by the assessment of some kidney function parameters, kidney antioxidant enzymes and histopathology. Silymarin (100mg/kg) was used as positive control. Results : The leaf extract exerted significant (p<0.05 – 0.001) dose-dependent decreases in elevated levels of liver enzymes (ALT, AST and ALP), total cholesterol, direct and total bilirubin as well as increases in serum levels of total protein, albumin and antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, GPx) and GSH. Histopathological study of the liver sections of extract and silymarin-treated rats revealed reductions in the pathological features compared to the paracetamol- treated animals. Leaf extract pre-treatment also resulted in significant (p<0.05) dose-dependent decreases in increased levels of serum creatinine and urea without affecting the electrolytes levels. Histopathology of the kidney sections of extract and silymarin- treated rats showed decreases in the pathological features compared to the control group. The chemical pathological results in both liver and kidney agreed with histopathological observations indicating pronouced hepatoprotective and renoprotective effect of the leaf extract of S. monostachyus. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that the leaf extract of S. monostachyus has the potentials to protect the liver and kidney against injury which may be due to its antioxidant activity of its constituents and this can be employed in the management of liver and kidney diseases. Keywords: Solenostemon monostachyus, medicinal plant, hepatoprotective, renoprotective, antioxidant

Ocular Toxoplasmosis among Livestock Farmers and Raw Meat Handlers in Uyo, Nigeria

BACKGROUND፡ Toxoplasmosis is the commonest cause of infectious posterior uveitis in humans and can lead to blindness and low vision in both immune-competent and immunecompromised persons worldwide. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of Ocular Toxoplasmosis (OT) and potential risk factors among livestock farmers and raw meat handlers in Uyo.METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional communitybased study involving clinical eye examination, laboratory detection of anti-Toxoplasma gondii IgG antibody and HIV testing. Participants’ other information was obtained using interviewer-administered questionnaire.RESULTS: There were 339 participants aged 15-78 (mean 34.8±11.6) years,283 (83.5%) were males 56(16.5%) were females; 189 (55.8%) tested seropositive for anti-Toxo. gondiiIgG antibodies. Eight (2.4%) had presumed ocular toxoplasmosis (POT); 6 of the 8 were seropositive for anti T.gondiiIgG antibody; and 2 of the 8 POT (25%) were HIV-seropositive. Of the 189 who were anti-T.gondiiIgG antibody seropositive, 6 (3.2%) had OT. Factors associated with OT were age (31-50 years) and female gender (P = 0.049 and 0.001, respectively). HIV infection was associated with POT (P=0.033). Most of the ocular lesions (87.5%) were unilateral and located at the posterior pole (77.7%).CONCLUSION: The prevalence of presumed ocular toxoplasmosis (POT) and ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) among livestock farmers and raw meat handlers in Uyo are 2.4% and 1.8%, respectively. Potential risk factors are being female, and persons between fourth and fifth decades of life. Awareness creation on toxoplasmosis among this occupational group is advocated

Antiretroviral Therapy, Renal Function among HIV-Infected Tanzanian, Adults, HIV/AIDS, .

Data regarding the outcomes of HIV-infected adults with baseline renal dysfunction who start antiretroviral therapy are conflicting. We followed up a previously-published cohort of HIV-infected adult outpatients in northwest Tanzania who had high prevalence of renal dysfunction at the time of starting antiretroviral therapy (between November 2009 and February 2010). Patients had serum creatinine, proteinuria, microalbuminuria, and CD4(+) T-cell count measured at the time of antiretroviral therapy initiation and at follow-up. We used the adjusted Cockroft-Gault equation to calculate estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs). In this cohort of 171 adults who had taken antiretroviral therapy for a median of two years, the prevalence of renal dysfunction (eGFR <90 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) decreased from 131/171 (76.6%) at the time of ART initiation to 50/171 (29.2%) at the time of follow-up (p<0.001). Moderate dysfunction (eGFR<60 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) decreased from 21.1% at antiretroviral therapy initiation to 1.1% at follow-up (p<0.001), as did the prevalence of microalbuminuria (72% to 44%, p<0.001). Use of tenofovir was not associated with renal dysfunction at follow-up. Mild and moderate renal dysfunction were common in this cohort of HIV-infected adults initiating antiretroviral therapy, and both significantly improved after a median follow-up time of 2 years. Our work supports the renal safety of antiretroviral therapy in African adults with mild-moderate renal dysfunction, suggesting that these regimens do not lead to renal damage in the majority of patients and that they may even improve renal function in patients with mild to moderate renal dysfunction

An Investigation of Potable Water Supply Problems in Akinima Community, Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) recognizes clean water as a major factor that determines development and promotes livelihood and human well-being, thus it set time-bound target for overcoming non –availability and non-potability of drinking water. A Scenario that is prevalent in developing countries including Nigeria. The aim of this paper is to investigate the potability of drinking water in Akinima Community, a rural community in Ahoada West Local Government Area (LGA) of Rivers State. The community like many other rural communities in Nigeria has no pipe-borne water supply. The major sources of drinking water are harvested rainwater, water from boreholes, and rivers. These sources are indentified to have varied problems of contamination and pollution, which range from high levels of chemical and microbiological contamination of harvested rainwater and rivers respectively, to saline intrusion into river water sources. Point sources and non-point sources of water contamination/pollution are common. With the current state of affairs meeting the MDGs target of “Halving, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water” is a mirage. The research design for the study is basically survey design and experimental design. The instruments used for investigation are questionnaire survey, face to face interview and observation. Experimentation was done in the laboratory to investigate physical, chemical and microbiological samples of drinking water from the households in Akinima community. Both primary and secondary data are applied for the study. The sample size is statistically determined using Taro Yamani’s formula for a finite population. The basic sampling unit (BSU) is the household. Sampling techniques applied are both systematic sampling and random sampling for selection of house-types and households respectively. Descriptive and inferential statistics are applied to investigate the data. Major findings revealed that the three major drinking water sources are not safe for drinking, because the values are significantly difference from the National Drinking Water Quantity Standard (NDWQS) 2007. The paper recommends the development of technologies that should harness rainwater harvesting and the introduction of active Civil Society Organization (CSOs) interventions/participation in rural water supply in Akinima Community among others

Physiological and Behavioural Responses of Farm Animals to Stress: Implications to Animal Productivity

The aim of this paper is to examine the physiological and behavioural responses of farm animals to stress and implications to animal productivity. In animal husbandry, stress has actually been conceived as a reflex reaction that occurs ineluctably when animals are exposed to adverse environmental conditions and which is the cause of many unfavourable consequences, ranging from discomfort to death. All animals will experience some level of stress during their lives. Stress reduces the fitness of an animal, which can be expressed through failure to achieve production performance standards, or through disease and death. Stress in farm animals may also have detrimental effects on quality of food products. Farm animals try to cope with stressors using behavioural and physiological stress responses aiming to restore homeostasis. When these responses are not successful or when they are thwarted, typical behavioural and physiological symptoms of chronic stress occur. In this case, the welfare of the animal is clearly at stake. Therefore, all farmers should keep their animals within their comfort zone and employ proper management practices. Moreover, identifying and minimizing stressful situations allows for greater animal productivity as well as economic benefit for the consumers and producers. However, the impact of stress is difficult to precisely determine, it is imperative that the issue receive more research attention in the interests of optimizing animal welfare and minimizing losses in product yield and quality

Late quaternary evolution of the Canakkale Strait region, Dardanelles, NW Turkey : implications of a major erosional event for the postglacial Mediterranean - Marmara sea connection.

Seismic and bathymetric data from the Canakkale Strait and its extensions onto the shelves of the Marmara and Aegean seas indicate that the strait was formed mainly by an erosional event. Four seismic units are observed on seismic profiles. The lower two of these (units 4 and 3) constitute the basement of a regionally widespread erosional unconformity (ravinement), which developed during marine isotope stage 2 (MIS 2). The two upper units (units 2 and 1), which overlie the ravinement surface, form a higher-order sequence. Sequence stratigraphic analysis indicates that units 2 and 1 deposited as lowstand and highstand systems tracts respectively, since the end of MIS 2. The transgressive systems tract is represented by a major erosional event which occurred throughout the Canakkale sill area when the Mediterranean-Marmara Sea connection and, hence, the Canakkale Strait was formed. The existence of the erosive Aarkoy Canyon along the shelf edge of the southern Marmara Sea demonstrates that the flow direction causing the erosion was from south to north, thus proving that it was produced by Mediterranean water flowing over the sill into the Marmara Sea basin