Constituents of leaf, stem bark and root volatile oils of Anogeissus leiocarpus DC. Guill. & Perr.

We report volatile compounds in Anogeissus leiocarpus, which is scarce in literature. Here in Nigeria leaf, stem bark and root essential oils were obtained by hydro-distillation using Clevenger-type apparatus, analyzed by GC and GC-MS. 88% leaf oil comprised of eleven compounds, with abundance of z-9-octadecenoic acid (29.0), n-hexadecanoic acid (21.4), n-octadecanoic acid (12.7), methyl-7E-7-octadecenoate (8.5), and methylhexadecanoate (5.4). Thirteen compounds amount to 80% of the stem bark oil, its significant compounds being z-9-octadecenoic acid (22.8), n-hexadecanoic acid (20.8), methyl-9z-octadecenoate (12.4), methylhexadecanoate (7.8) and eicosane (4.1). Fourteen compounds make-up 91% of root oil, dominated by methyl-7E-7-octadecenoate (18.1), n-hexadecanoic acid (17.6), methyl linoleate (16.2),  z-9-octadecenoic acid (15.7) and methylhexadecanoate (14.2). Leaf, stem bark and root oils are characterized by the following classes of compounds respectively (%): fatty acids [65.8, 43.6, 36.7]; esters [17.9, 20.2, 49.9]; hydrocarbons [3.2, 15.7, 1.7]; leaf and root oils contain terpenoids [1.1, 1.1]; dl-arabinose (sugar) is in stem bark oil. Methylhexadecanoate and hexadecanoic acid are common to the three oils. They can serve as chemotaxonomic markers characteristic for this species. Compositions of Anogeissus leiocarpus three oils vary, are unique and of different chemo-types. This report is first of its kind in literature for ‘axlewood’ plant.Keywords: Combretaceae, Anogeissus leiocarpus, essential oil, GC-MS

Pharmacognostic Investigation of Leaves of Mitracarpus vilosus (S.W.) D.C

Pharmacognostic investigation on fresh, powdered and anatomical sections of leaf of Mitracarpus vilosus (S.W) D.C was carried out to determine its macromorphological, micromorphological and chemomicromorphological profiles. Qualitative and quantitative studies indicated presence ofamphicribal vascular bundle arrangement, characteristic asperites, cone-shaped clothing trichomes, simple leaf arrangement lanceolate shape, entire margin, cuneate base, parallel venation and opposite/decussate arrangement. Other features include presence of calcium oxalate crystals, lignin and oil globules with palisade ratio of 4 – 7 and stomatal number of 13.5. The relative similarities between the members of the Spermacoceae tribe, to which the plant belongs, coupled with lack of information towards monograph preparation on the plant necessitated this investigation. These findings will be useful towards establishing pharmacognostic standards on identification, purity, quality and classification of the plant which is gaining relevance in plant drug research

Ethno-Medicinal Plants And Methods Used By Gwandara Tribe Of Sabo Wuse In Niger State, Nigeria, To Treat Mental Illness

The Gwandara people of Sabo Wuse in Niger State, Nigeria are the original inhabitants of Wuse in Abuja Municipal Area Council. They were resettled at this present location of Sabo Wuse from Wuse in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja when the seat of government moved from Lagos to Abuja 30 years ago. Sabo Wuse still remains relatively a remote settlement and their lifestyle unchanged. They still depend to a large extent on their traditional knowledge of medicinal plants to treat ailments. Ethnobotanical survey was conducted to identify and document methods traditionally utilized for treatment of mental illness and to expand the quality and quantity of information for research and development especially in the area of new drug discovery and development. About sixty seven (67) Traditional Medicine Practitioners were interviewed orally with use of questionnaire. From our survey, various methods were found to be used by the traditional medicine practitioners to treat mental illness and associated disorders. These include music, incantations and medicinal plants in various formulations – decoction, powder, infusion – which are administered in various ways like fumigation, inhalation, bathing, steaming and drinking. Eighteen plant species belonging to twelve different families were documented to be included in these therapies. In conclusion, there is an array of plants used locally to treat mental illness and it is recommended that such surveys should be funded and leads for drugs to treat mental illness obtained from such, at the same time documenting our indigenous knowledge. Keywords: mental illness, indigenous knowledge, ethno- medicinal plants. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines Vol. 4 (2) 2007: pp. 211-21

Identification and molecular characterization of a new ovarian cancer susceptibility locus at 17q21.31

Contains fulltext : 118576.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has a heritable component that remains to be fully characterized. Most identified common susceptibility variants lie in non-protein-coding sequences. We hypothesized that variants in the 3' untranslated region at putative microRNA (miRNA)-binding sites represent functional targets that influence EOC susceptibility. Here, we evaluate the association between 767 miRNA-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (miRSNPs) and EOC risk in 18,174 EOC cases and 26,134 controls from 43 studies genotyped through the Collaborative Oncological Gene-environment Study. We identify several miRSNPs associated with invasive serous EOC risk (odds ratio=1.12, P=10(-8)) mapping to an inversion polymorphism at 17q21.31. Additional genotyping of non-miRSNPs at 17q21.31 reveals stronger signals outside the inversion (P=10(-10)). Variation at 17q21.31 is associated with neurological diseases, and our collaboration is the first to report an association with EOC susceptibility. An integrated molecular analysis in this region provides evidence for ARHGAP27 and PLEKHM1 as candidate EOC susceptibility genes