Carica papaya juice enhanced in-vitro cell proliferation better than freeze-dried PBS extract using scratch assay

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Prosopis africana Seeds Extract Affects Lipid Profiles and Antioxidant levels in Serum and Brain Tissue of Wistar Rats

Prosopis africana (PA) is a deciduous plant widely used in Nigeria as food flavouring condiments, but its medicinal benefits has not been fully  established. We investigated the major phytochemical constituents and evaluated the effect of aqueous extract of PA seeds on lipids and  antioxidants in the brain and serum of male Wistar rats. Three groups of rats (n = 5/group) orally received as follows:  first group distilled water, second group 500 mg/kg and and third group 1000 mg/kg of the aqueous extract respectively for 25 days. The phytochemical result revealed that PA is highly rich in terpenoids, flavonoids, saponins, steroids and alkaloids. Administration of PA (500 mg/kg) decreased serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) but raised serum triglycerides (TG), very-low-density-lipoprotein (VLDL), cardiovascular risk ratio II (CRRII) and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP). Besides, PA(500 mg/kg) increased brain content of TC, LDL-C and CRRs while both doses of PA decreased the serum and brain malondialdehyde (MDA), with no remarkable changes in the serum and brain content of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT). Meanwhile, both doses of PA raised serum content of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and PA (1000 mg/kg) alone increased the brain reduced glutathione (GSH). Conclusively, these findings show that PA exhibited antioxidant and anti-lipidaemic activities. Keywords: Antioxidants, Atherosclerosis, Dyslipidemia, Lipid Peroxidation, Prosopis africana seed

Histomorphological evaluation of wound healing - Comparison between use of honey and Vernonia amygdalina leaf juice

Vernonia amygdalina Del. crude sap has been used for wound management in ethnomedicine. Histological evaluation of Vernonia amygdalina leaf juice effect on wound healing was carried out. Female albino rats (150-200 g) were anaesthetized, shaved and induced a circular excision wound (10 mm diameter) at the dorso-lateral region. They were randomly assigned (n = 5) to honey, Vernonia amygdalina leaf juice and deionised water (negative control; NC) treated groups (topically treated twice/day with 20 µL each of the respective treatments). Wound size was measured using a digital camera (Canon Powershot 5.0MP, Canon, Tokyo, Japan) and Adobe photoshop CS5 software. Wound tissues were removed on days 3, 5, 7 and 10 post wounding for histomorphological examinations. Average time for complete wound closure in honey (11.00 ± 0.00 days) and Vernonia amygdalina leaf juice (11.20 ± 0.44 days) treated groups was significantly (p˂ 0.05) shorter when compared to NC (13.4 ± 0.90 days). Vernonia amygdalina leaf juice, similar to honey, enhanced fibroblasts recruitment, epithelia cells migration, neovascularization and reduced polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNL) infiltration as compared to the NC at the early phase of wound healing (days 3 and 5). Vernonia amygdalina might enhance cutaneous wound healing through mechanisms associated with activation/differentiation of skin cells and inhibition of PMNL infiltration of wound area.Keywords: Histology, Vernonia amygdalina, Honey, Wound healin