Comparison of nutritional values of brown and white beans in Jos North Local Government markets

Cowpea is an important bean which play significant role in the diets of Africans. It serves as a major source of protein in the absence of sufficient animal protein for the population. Two varieties (white and brown) of  cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) were analyzed for their proximate and elemental contents. These varieties belong to the same species in the family leguminosae. The brown and white seeds were found to be nutritious. Both contained carbohydrate, protein, fibers and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, iron, zinc, manganese and copper. The crude protein was found to be 15.62 and 17.91% with the brown seeds having the higher amount. The carbohydrate content analyzed was found to be 56.80 and 60.57% with the  white seeds having the higher value. The crude lipid gave the least range which is 2.13 to 2.42%. The other parameters, moisture content, crude fiber and total ash contents were 3.56 to 5.08, 13.54 to 14.15 and 4.07 to 4.27%, respectively. Potassium and copper had the highest and lowest concentration in cowpea varieties ranging from 741 to 768 and 0.58 to 0.60 mg/100 g, respectively. There were significant (p<0.05) differences between the potassium, calcium, sodium, magnesium, manganese and zinc concentration of the cowpea varieties, except between iron and copper concentration.Key words: Vigna unguiculata, cowpeas, nutrition, minerals, vitamins

Rapid, cost-effective liquid chromatograghic method for the determination of metronidazole in biological fluids

A rapid and cost effective method for the analysis of metronidazole in biological samples was developed. The extraction method is a simple single-step liquid-liquid process that has eliminated the need for costly extraction and evaporation equipment. The mobile phase consists largely of water, making the method cheap to run with less than 6 min total analytical time per sample. The calibration curve was linear from 0 to 2.00 ìg/ml. The regression coefficient was 0.99. The method is highly sensitive, with limit of detection of 1 ng/ml. The coefficient of variation for within-day run was less than 4% while that of day-to-day run was less than 6%. There were no interfering peaks from endogenous materials in the serum. The method was validated and used for pharmacokinetic studie

In vitro screening of NIPRD-AH1 on CYP3A4 activity for plausible herb-drug interaction

NIPRD-AH1 is being developed from freeze-dried aqueous extract of Andrographis paniculata at the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), Abuja Nigeria as immunestimulant for HIV infected patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of NIPRD-AH1 on human cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) drug metabolising enzyme in order to generate clinically significant data for its safe and efficacious use. Activity on CYP3A4 was measured with and without the addition of NIPRD-AH1 in a reaction medium with testosterone (70 μM) as CYP3A4 substrate, and ketoconazole (2.5 μM) as positive inhibitor. The metabolites formed after the enzymatic reactions were quantified by validated HPLC techniques. Results showed NIPRD-AH1 exhibiting low IC50 value of 0.03 mg/ml, indicating that its metabolic processes are likely to inhibit CYP3A4. This suggests possibility of herb-drug interaction, with potential implication on concomitant administration of NIPRD-AH1 with CYP3A4 substrates. We therefore suggested that this effect be examined in vivo in order to draw a definitive conclusion.Keywords: Andrographis paniculata, NIPRD-AH1, CYP3A4, herb-drug interaction

Bioinspired pattern-driven single-material 4D printing for self-morphing actuators

Four-dimensional (4D) printing of shape memory polymers is a leading research field due to the possibilities allowed by using these materials. The strain difference in the structures that is caused by the different stiffness profiles can be used to influence the shape-memory effect in the actuators. In this study, the influence of patterns on the strain is tested in polylactic acid (PLA) actuators using patterns made of different shapes. Five bioinspired geometrical shapes, namely, circles, squares, hexagons, rhombuses, and triangles, are used in the three-dimensional (3D) printing of the actuators. The use of shapes of different sizes along with combinations of different patterns in the PLA actuators is carried out to develop 40 actuators with different designs. The effects of the patterns and their characteristics are analysed and compared. The self-bending angles of the actuators range from 6.19° to 30.86°, depending on the patterns and arrangement used. To demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing the proposed designs in practical applications, a hand-like shaped gripper is developed. The results show that the gripper can grip objects with uniform and non-uniform cross-sections. The developed gripper demonstrates that the proposed concept can be implemented in various applications, including self-morphing structures and soft robotics