Evaluation of Hypoglycaemic Efficacy of Aqueous Seed Extract of Aframomum melegueta in Alloxan-induced Diabetic Rats

The hypoglycaemic efficacy of aqueous seed extract of Aframomum melegueta was investigated in alloxaninduced diabetic rats. Twenty five albino rats (Rattus novergicus, average weight: 150g) were randomly divided into five groups of five (5) rats each. For the diabetic group, diabetes mellitus was induced by intraperitoneal injection of 5% solution of alloxan at a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight. Diabetes was confirmed 72 hours after alloxan injection if fasting blood glucose (FBG) was . 10 mmol/l. Two control groups: non-diabetic (positive) and diabetic (negative) were administered tap water as vehicle solvent, throughout the duration of the experiment. The remaining three groups received 100 mg/kg of metformin, 200 and 400 mg/kg orally and aqueous seed extract of Aframomum melegueta respectively and simultaneously. Fasting blood glucose was evaluated daily. The results showed that oral administration of aqueous extract of A. melegueta to diabetic rats lowered blood glucose to normal level within 6 days of administration, while metformin took 14 days. There was no significant difference in the duration of lowering the blood glucose by the two doses of extract administered. In conclusion, oral administration of aqueous seed extract of Aframomum melegueta has potent hypoglycaemic activity in alloxanised diabetic rats

Antibacterial potentials of aqueous extract of Enantia chlorantha stem bark

The antibacterial potentials of aqueous extract of Enantia chlorantha stem bark at varying concentrations of 50, 100 and 150 mg/ml was investigated by measuring the zones of inhibition produced after incubation on nutrient agar. Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus substilis, Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhymurium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were used as test organisms. The results revealed that the zones of inhibition on the bacterial isolates increased (P < 0.05) as the concentration of the plant extract increased. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration produced by the extract on the gram positive bacteria were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than the gram negative bacteria. The results revealed that the aqueous extract of Enantia chlorantha stem bark possessed antibacterial activities on the clinical isolates with more antibacterial effect on the gram-positive than the gram-negative bacteria. The identified alkaloids might be responsible for the antibacterial activities

Antiglycation and Hypolipidemic Effects of Polyphenols from Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Zingiberaceae) in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

Purpose: To evaluate the antiglycation and hypolipidemic potential of polyphenols from Zingiber officinale in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.Methods: Diabetes was induced in male Wistar rats by single intraperitoneal injection of 50 mg/kg body weight (bw) of streptozotocin. This was followed by oral administration of 500 mg/kg each of free and bound polyphenol extracts of Z. officinale to the rats daily for 42 days. Distilled water and glibenclamide (5 mg/kg) were used as normal and positive controls, respectively.Results: Significant increases (p &lt; 0.05) in blood glucose level (369.26 mg/dL), serum advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) (6.80 μg/mL), lipid profile and atherogenic indices, with decrease in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (15.55 mg/dL) were observed in diabetic rats compared to control. Free polyphenol extracts of Z. officinale significantly reduced (p &lt; 0.05) blood glucose (147.96 mg/dL), serum AGEs (1.98 μg/mL), lipid profile and atherogenic indices while it significantly increased HDL-C (23.28 mg/dL). However, bound polyphenol extract did not cause any significant change in the lipid profile of the diabetic rats except for LDL-C.Conclusion: This study indicates that free and bound polyphenols from Z. officinale can ameliorate diabetes as well as its complications, and its effect is comparable to that of the standard drug, glibenclamide.Keywords: Zingiber officinale, Diabetes, Lipid profile, Atherogenic index, Polyphenol, Glycation, Streptozotoci

Phytochemical analysis and in vivo anti-malarial activities of aqueous extracts of Tithonia diversifolia and Parquetina nigrescens leaves in mice

This study was carried out to assess the acclaimed anti-malarial potentials of aqueous extracts of leaf of Tithonia diversifolia (TD) and Parquetina nigrecsens (PN) in mice. The phytochemical constituents and in vivo anti-malarial activities of individual and combined of aqueous leaf extracts of Tithonia diversifolia (TD) and Parquetina nigrecsens (PN) were investigated. Fifteen albino mice were infected by intraperitoneal injection of standard inocula (5 × 106) of chloroquine sensitive Plasmodium berghei (NK 65). The animals were randomly divided into 5 groups of 3 mice. Group I served as the control while group II received 5mg/kg body weight per oral of chloroquine diphosphate. Groups III – V were orally treated with 150mg/kg body weight extracts of TD, TD+PN and PN respectively. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of saponins, alkaloids and tannins in the aqueous extracts of TD and PN. There were 100, 90, 86 and 77 percent parasite inhibition in groups treated with Chloroquine, combination of Tithonia diversifolia and Parquetina nigrescens (TD+PN), Parquetina nigrescens (PN) and Tithonia diversifolia (TN) respectively on day 5. The mean survival time (MST) for the control animals was 7 days and chloroquine 25 days, while the TD+PN, PN and TD aqueous extracts recorded 19, 18 and 11 days respectively. The results indicated that the combined aqueous (TD+PN) extracts of Tithonia diversifolia and Parquetina nigrescens produced the best antimalarial activity, which provides a justification for their use in folklore medicine and may be promising alternative anti-malarial drug.Keywords: Tithonia diversifolia; Parquetina nigrescens, Plasmodium berghei, Anti-malarial, Phytochemica

Antipyretic and analgesic activities of aqueous extract of Acacia nilotica root

This study was designed to investigate the scientific basis for the use of Acacia nilotica root extract for treatment of fever and pain in traditional medical practice. Anti-Pyretic study was carried out using Brewerʼs yeast suspension to induce pyrexia. The hot plate, tail immersion and acetic acid-induced writhing tests were the nociceptive models used for analgesic study. Anti-pyretic and analgesic activity of the extract was compared with acetaminophen that was used as control drug. Five groups comprising five animals per group were used for each study. Group 1 was administered 10 ml/kg body weight of distilled water, Group 2 was administered 150 mg/kg body weight of acetaminophen while groups 3, 4 and 5 were administered 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight of extract respectively as single oral dose. The extract produced significant dose-dependent reduction in rectal temperature of rats at 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight. Significant analgesic activities were also observed in the hot plate, tail immersion and acetic acid induced writhing, after administration of 200 and 400 mg/kg b.w of extract which is comparable to the control drug, acetaminophen. The results from this study showed that aqueous extract of Acacia nilotica root at 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight possess significant antipyretic and analgesic activities. This provides scientific support for its traditional medical use in the treatment of fever and pain.Keywords: Antipyrexia, Analgesia, Acacia nilotica, Brewerʼs yeast

Synthesis and biological evaluations of oleanolic acid indole derivatives as hyaluronidase inhibitors with enhanced skin permeability

Oleanolic acid (OA) is a natural cosmeceutical compound with various skin beneficial activities including inhibitory effect on hyaluronidase but the anti-hyaluronidase activity and mechanisms of action of its synthetic analogues remain unclear. Herein, a series of OA derivatives were synthesised and evaluated for their inhibitory effects on hyaluronidase. Compared to OA, an induction of fluorinated (6c) and chlorinated (6g) indole moieties led to enhanced anti-hyaluronidase activity (IC50 = 80.3 vs. 9.97 and 9.57 µg/mL, respectively). Furthermore, spectroscopic and computational studies revealed that 6c and 6g can bind to hyaluronidase protein and alter its secondary structure leading to reduced enzyme activity. In addition, OA indole derivatives showed feasible skin permeability in a slightly acidic environment (pH = 6.5) and 6c exerted skin protective effect by reducing cellular reactive oxygen species in human skin keratinocytes. Findings from the current study support that OA indole derivatives are potential cosmeceuticals with anti-hyaluronidase activity

Ivermectin treatment of Loa loa hyper-microfilaraemic baboons (Papio anubis): Assessment of microfilarial loads, haematological and biochemical parameters and histopathological changes following treatment.

Individuals with high intensity of Loa loa are at risk of developing serious adverse events (SAEs) post treatment with ivermectin. These SAEs have remained unclear and a programmatic impediment to the advancement of community directed treatment with ivermectin. The pathogenesis of these SAEs following ivermectin has never been investigated experimentally. The Loa/baboon (Papio anubis) model can be used to investigate the pathogenesis of Loa-associated encephalopathy following ivermectin treatment in humans. 12 baboons with microfilarial loads > 8,000mf/mL of blood were randomised into four groups: Group 1 (control group receiving no drug), Group 2 receiving ivermectin (IVM) alone, Group 3 receiving ivermectin plus aspirin (IVM + ASA), and Group 4 receiving ivermectin plus prednisone (IVM + PSE). Blood samples collected before treatment and at Day 5, 7 or 10 post treatment, were analysed for parasitological, hematological and biochemical parameters using standard techniques. Clinical monitoring of animals for side effects took place every 6 hours post treatment until autopsy. At autopsy free fluids and a large number of standard organs were collected, examined and tissues fixed in 10% buffered formalin and processed for standard haematoxylin-eosin staining and specific immunocytochemical staining. Mf counts dropped significantly (p0.05). All animals became withdrawn 48 hours after IVM administration. All treated animals recorded clinical manifestations including rashes, itching, diarrhoea, conjunctival haemorrhages, lymph node enlargement, pinkish ears, swollen face and restlessness; one animal died 5 hours after IVM administration. Macroscopic changes in post-mortem tissues observed comprised haemorrhages in the brain, lungs, heart, which seen in all groups given ivermectin but not in the untreated animals. Microscopically, the major cellular changes seen, which were present in all the ivermectin treated animals included microfilariae in varying degrees of degeneration in small vessels. These were frequently associated with fibrin deposition, endothelial changes including damage to the integrity of the blood vessel and the presence of extravascular erythrocytes (haemorrhages). There was an increased presence of eosinophils and other chronic inflammatory types in certain tissues and organs, often in large numbers and associated with microfilarial destruction. Highly vascularized organs like the brain, heart, lungs and kidneys were observed to have more microfilariae in tissue sections. The number of mf seen in the brain and kidneys of animals administered IVM alone tripled that of control animals. Co-administration of IVM + PSE caused a greater increase in mf in the brain and kidneys while the reverse was noticed with the co-administration of IVM + ASA. The treatment of Loa hyper-microfilaraemic individuals with ivermectin produces a clinical spectrum that parallels that seen in Loa hyper-microfilaraemic humans treated with ivermectin. The utilization of this experimental model can contribute to the improved management of the adverse responses in humans

Stimulus responsive graphene scaffolds for tissue engineering

Tissue engineering (TE) is an emerging area that aims to repair damaged tissues and organs by combining different scaffold materials with living cells. Recently, scientists started to engineer a new generation of nanocomposite scaffolds able to mimic biochemical and biophysical mechanisms to modulate the cellular responses promoting the restoration of tissue structure or function. Due to its unique electrical, topographical and chemical properties, graphene is a material that holds a great potential for TE, being already considered as one of the best candidates for accelerating and guiding stem cell differentiations. Although this is a promising field there are still some challenges to overcome, such as the efficient control of the differentiation of the stem cells, especially in graphene-based microenvironments. Hence, this chapter will review the existing research related to the ability of graphene and its derivatives (graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide) to induce stem cell differentiation into diverse lineages when under the influence of electrical, mechanical, optical and topographic stimulations

Effect of chronic administration of aqueous extract of Enantia Cholarnath on some renal function parameters in experimental rats

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