Phytopharmacotherapeutic and Antimicrobial Attributes of Bitter Apple (Citrullus colocynthis) - A Review

Emergence of drug-resistant microorganisms over the past few decades has resulted in the search for bioactive compounds potent against these microorganisms. Phytochemicals derived from plants have shown positive curative properties and can be extracted from any part of the plant such as the roots, stem or flower. Bitter apple (Citrullus colocynthis) has been used traditionally for the treatment of infectious diseases and this has stimulated pharmacological interest in the active ingredients responsible for its medicinal properties. The plant also possesses several biological and pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidant. This review discussed the phytochemicals present in C. colocynthis, their mode of action and their antimicrobial attributes

Phytopharmacotherapeutic and Antimicrobial Attributes of Bitter Apple (Citrullus colocynthis) - A Review

Emergence of drug-resistant microorganisms over the past few decades has resulted in the search for bioactive compounds potent against these microorganisms. Phytochemicals derived from plants have shown positive curative properties and can be extracted from any part of the plant such as the roots, stem or flower. Bitter apple (Citrullus colocynthis) has been used traditionally for the treatment of infectious diseases and this has stimulated pharmacological interest in the active ingredients responsible for its medicinal properties. The plant also possesses several biological and pharmacological activities including anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidant. This review discussed the phytochemicals present in C. colocynthis, their mode of action and their antimicrobial attributes

The AgResults Nigeria Aflasafe TM Challenge Project: 2019 Annual Report

This report documents the key activities that were carried under the AgResults Aflasafe Pilot Project during the 2018/ 2019 maize-growing season on the verification process to trigger premium payments for successfully harvested and aggregated Aflasafe™-treated maize

Care seeking for under-five children and vaccine perceptions during the first two waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos State, Nigeria: a qualitative exploratory study

Objective: To explore healthcare seeking practices for children and the context-specific direct and indirect effects of public health interventions during the first two waves of COVID-19 in Lagos State, Nigeria. We also explored decision-making around vaccine acceptance at the start of COVID-19 vaccine roll-out in Nigeria. Design, setting and participants: A qualitative explorative study involving 19 semistructured interviews with healthcare providers from public and private primary health facilities and 32 interviews with caregivers of under-five children in Lagos from December 2020 to March 2021. Participants were purposively selected from healthcare facilities to include community health workers, nurses and doctors, and interviews were conducted in quiet locations at facilities. A data-driven reflexive thematic analysis according to Braun and Clark was conducted. Findings: Two themes were developed: appropriating COVID-19 in belief systems, and ambiguity about COVID-19 preventive measures. The interpretation of COVID-19 ranged from fearful to considering it as a ‘scam’ or ‘falsification from the government’. Underlying distrust in government fuelled COVID-19 misperceptions. Care seeking for children under five was affected, as facilities were seen as contagious places for COVID-19. Caregivers resorted to alternative care and self-management of childhood illnesses. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy was a major concern among healthcare providers compared with community members at the time of vaccine roll-out in Lagos, Nigeria. Indirect impacts of COVID-19 lockdown included diminished household income, worsening food insecurity, mental health challenges for caregivers and reduced clinic visits for immunisation. Conclusion: The first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Lagos was associated with reductions in care seeking for children, clinic attendance for childhood immunisations and household income. Strengthening health and social support systems with context-specific interventions and correcting misinformation is crucial to building adaptive capacity for response to future pandemics

Allergy sensitization and asthma among 13-14 year old school children in Nigeria

Background: The prevalence of asthma and role of atopy in asthma among children has not been clearly defined in Nigeria.Objective: To determine the prevalence of asthma and investigate risk factors related to allergy sensitization among urban and rural school children in southwest Nigeria.Methods: Validated ISAAC questionnaire was administered to 1736 high school children in randomly selected schools in rural and urban communities. Identified asthma cases were matched to controls. Allergy skin tests, blood eosinophil count, serum IgE and stool examination for parasites were performed. Dust samples from homes were also collected and analyzed for allergens.Results: The prevalence of asthma was 7.5% (95% CI 6.0 to 9.2%) and 8% (95% CI 6.0-10.4%) in the rural and urban communities respectively . Risk factors for asthma included cigarette-smoking, cats in the home and family size. Eosinophil count (109/L) was elevated in asthmatics [0.70 (95% CI 0.48-1.11) vs. 0.32 (95% CI 0.19-0.69); p<0.01], but IgE levels were similar between the two groups (298±229 IU/mL vs. 288±257; p=0.97). Positive skin tests to cat hair, cockroach, mango blossom and mouse epithelium were more frequent in asthmatics than in healthy controls, especially in the rural communities. There was no correlation between allergens in dust collected from homes and skin test reactivity.Conclusion: Asthma prevalence is similar in rural and urban children in Southwest Nigeria and atopy with elevated IgE was not observed to be a major factor for asthma in our cohort of children in both communities.Key words: Asthma, risk factors, prevalence, atopy, sensitization, childre

Connective tissue, glial and neuronal expressions in testis of the African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus)

Introduction: This study was carried out to investigate the expression of connective tissue (Collagens I and III), glia and neuronal markers in the testis of the African giant rat using histology and immunohistochemistry techniques. Materials and Methods: Eight (8) apparently healthy wild male African giant rats were used for this experiment, divided into 2 groups (juvenile and adult) of 4 animals each. The testes were harvested following intracardial perfusion of the rats and histology was performed using Haematoxylin-Eosin stain and Mallory-Heideinhain rapid one- step staining for connective tissue. Immunohistochemical identification was achieved using the following antibodies: anti-collagen type I, anti-collagen type III, anti-glial fibrillary acidic protein and anti-p75 nerve growth factor for the expression of collagen type I, collagen type III, astrocyte-like cell and neuronal cells respectively. Photomicrography was achieved using Axioskop® microscope and quantitative data were analyzed using student t-test. Results: The cyto-architecture of the testis was typical in the African giant rat. The connective tissue expressed in the juvenile and adult group, signaling of glial-like cells were seen in the perivascular region across the experimental groups. Immuno-localization of neuronal cells were seen in the interstitial spaces across all the groups, but with more expressions in the juvenile. Conclusion: This work has provided a clear description of the expression of connective tissue, neuronal and glial cells in the testis of the African giant rat and their possible relationships across juvenile and adult groups

Measuring oxygen access: lessons from health facility assessments in Lagos, Nigeria

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted global oxygen system deficiencies and revealed gaps in how we understand and measure ‘oxygen access’. We present a case study on oxygen access from 58 health facilities in Lagos state, Nigeria. We found large differences in oxygen access between facilities (primary vs secondary, government vs private) and describe three key domains to consider when measuring oxygen access: availability, cost, use. Of 58 facilities surveyed, 8 (14%) of facilities had a functional pulse oximeter. Oximeters (N=27) were typically located in outpatient clinics (12/27, 44%), paediatric ward (6/27, 22%) or operating theatre (4/27, 15%). 34/58 (59%) facilities had a functional source of oxygen available on the day of inspection, of which 31 (91%) facilities had it available in a single ward area, typically the operating theatre or maternity ward. Oxygen services were free to patients at primary health centres, when available, but expensive in hospitals and private facilities, with the median cost for 2 days oxygen 13 000 (US$36) and 27 500 (US$77) Naira, respectively. We obtained limited data on the cost of oxygen services to facilities. Pulse oximetry use was low in secondary care facilities (32%, 21/65 patients had SpO2 documented) and negligible in private facilities (2%, 3/177) and primary health centres (<1%, 2/608). We were unable to determine the proportion of hypoxaemic patients who received oxygen therapy with available data. However, triangulation of existing data suggested that no facilities were equipped to meet minimum oxygen demands. We highlight the importance of a multifaceted approach to measuring oxygen access that assesses access at the point-of-care and ideally at the patient-level. We propose standard metrics to report oxygen access and describe how these can be integrated into routine health information systems and existing health facility assessment tools

A detached leaf assay to rapidly screen for resistance of maize to Bipolaris maydis, the causal agent of southern corn leaf blight

Open Access Article; Published online: 26 Nov 2019Southern corn leaf blight (SCLB), caused by the fungus Bipolaris maydis, is a disease that significantly affects maize productivity across the globe. A detached leaf assay (DLA) was developed to rapidly assess maize resistance to SCLB. Several experiments were conducted to: (i) identify a highly virulent B. maydis isolate; and to determine the most appropriate (ii) phytohormone to maintain viability of maize leaf tissue, (iii) leaf age for the assay, and (iv) inoculum concentration. Once optimized, the DLA was compared with screenhouse and field experiments. Use of DLA required a maximum of 28 days for resistance assessment, in contrast to screenhouse and field tests at a minimum of 33 and 72 days, respectively. DLA positively correlated with screenhouse (r = 0.48, P = 0.08) and field experiments (r = 0.68, P = 0.008). Assessments of diverse B. maydis strains and host genotypes indicated that the DLA could be used to detect both highly virulent SCLB strains and highly resistant maize genotypes. Here we report that DLA is a rapid, reliable technique to screen maize resistance to SCLB. Use of this tool in maize breeding programs can speed up the process of identification of sources of resistance to multiple variants of SCLB

A qualitative study of the feasibility and community perception on the effectiveness of artemether-lumefantrine use in the context of home management of malaria in south-west Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Nigeria ACT use at the community level has not been evaluated and the use of antimalarial drugs (commonly chloroquine (CQ)) at home has been shown to be largely incorrect. The treatment regimen of ACT is however more complicated than that of CQ. There is thus a need to determine the feasibility of using ACT at the home level and determine community perception on its use.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A before and after qualitative study using key informant interviews (KII) and focus group discussions (FGDs) was conducted in selected villages in Ona-Ara local government area. At baseline, 14 FGDs and 14 KIIs were conducted. Thereafter, community medicine distributors (CMDs) were trained in each village to dispense artemeter-lumenfantrine (AL) to febrile children aged 6–59 months presumed to have uncomplicated malaria. After one year of drug distribution, nine KIIs and 10 FGDs were conducted. Participants and key informants were mothers and fathers with children under five years, traditional heads of communities, opinion leaders and health workers.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>None of the participants have heard of AL prior to study. Participants were favourably disposed to introduction of AL into the community. Mothers/caregivers were said to have used AL in place of the orthodox drugs and herbs reported commonly used prior to study after commencement of AL distribution. The use of CMDs for drug distribution was acceptable to the participants and they were judged to be efficient as they were readily available, distributed correct dose of AL and mobilised the community effectively. AL was perceived to be very effective and no significant adverse event was reported. Major concerns to the sustainability of the program were the negative attitudes of health workers towards discharge of their duties, support to the CMDs and the need to provide CMDs incentives. In addition regular supply of drugs and adequate supervision of CMDs were advised.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings showed that the use of AL at home and community level is feasible with adequate training of community medicine distributors and caregivers. Community members perceived AL to be effective thus fostering acceptability. The negative attitudes of the health workers and issue of incentives to CMDs need to be addressed for successful scaling-up of ACT use at community level.</p