Safety Evaluation of Two Nigerian Polyherbal Formulations (Fidson Bitter® And Daily Living Bitter®) In Male Wistar Rats

Background: Herbal bitters are used for diverse diseases based on the manufacturers’ assertions. However, little is known about their toxicity profile.Objective: The safety profile of two commonly used herbal bitters in Nigeria (Fidson bitter® and Daily living bitter®)was evaluated in rats.Materials and Methods: Single oral dose, 2 g/kg, of each reconstituted bitter extract was administered to male and female rats in acute toxicity test. Animals were observed for 14 days for behavioral changes and mortality. In sub-acute oral toxicity experiment, 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg of each bitter was separately administered daily to different groups of male Wistar rats for 30 days. Safety profile of concurrent administration of these bitters was also assessed. Histopathological, hematological, and clinical chemistry indices were evaluated.Results: The LD50 was found to be >2 g/kg. Daily living bitter® (DLB) had no significant effect on any of the indices evaluated (P>0.05). However, Fidson bitter® caused significant reductions in white blood cells count (WBC) compared with the control. Concomitant administration of the bitters resulted in significant (P<0.05) weight gain (up to 33 %), reduction in WBC and congestion of the liver without corresponding increase in liver biomarkers.Conclusion: Daily living bitter® was safe in sub-acute administration while Fidson bitter®and combination of the two bitters reduced white blood cell count. Hence, caution should be exercised in using Fidson bitter® or combination of the two bitters in humans as findings suggest possibility of immune suppression.Keywords: Toxicity profile, Polyherbal, Herbal bitters, Hematology, Wistar rats

Abundances of Nitrates and Coliform with Regards to Water Quality. In Some Parts of lbadan, Southwest, Nigeria.

Water pollution has been reported throughout the world and Nigeria is not an exception. A very wide range of pollutants have been recognized, including Nitrogen species and bacteria. Nitrate (NO.) is the main form of Nitrogen which occurs in water and is becoming increasingly widespread because of agriculture activities, the disposal of sewage and wastes. This study thus focused on the assessment of the water samples in Ibadan, .Southwest, Nigeria based on these two pollutants (NO,) and. Colform) and possibility of natural denitrification in the study area. The surface and groundwater in Ibadan h:w e been polluted by municipal, industrial wastewater, agricultural activities among others. 1 he nitrate and coliform concentrations at thirty sampling points with in Tbadan ranged from 5.89 to 250mg/l and 74-IOOOcfu/ lOOmg/1 respectively. The concentration of nitrate and califom1 exceeded the WHO limit of I Omg/1 and Ocfu/ lOOmg!r'in 93% and 1OQ% of the sampled locations respectively. High nitrate and califom1 ·levels were observed in water from wells from the undeveloped part of the smdv area. The decrease in nitrate concentration viz a viz an increase in both HCO,- and pH along the groundwater flow direction confirmed the possibility of nitrate removal or natural denitrification in the study area

Investigation of the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of Hymenocardia acida Tul. (Hymenocardiaceae)

Hymenocardia acida Tul. (Hymenocardiaceae) locally called Orupa, is traditionally used for the treatment of inflammation, including arthritis, rheumatic pain and toothache. The potential antiinflammatory and antinociceptive activities of the aqueous leaf extract of this plant were evaluated in animal models. The extract (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) significantly (P < 0.05) and dose - dependently inhibited carrageenan and egg albumin-induced rat paw oedema development compared with control group. At 3 h of post-carrageenan administration, the highest dose of the extract (200 mg/kg, p.o) inhibited oedema formation by 66.67%. The reference drug used, indomethacin (10 mg/kg, p.o), gave an inhibition of 72.22%. The inhibitory activity shown by the aqueous leaf extract of H. acida over a period of 6 h in the carrageenan and 3 h in the egg albumin-induced paw inflammation models was comparable to that exhibited by the reference drugs used, indomethacin and cyproheptadine (10 mg/kg, p.o). The extract elicited a significant analgesic activity in the tail immersion test as evidenced by the increase in latency time in seconds as compared with the control at the end of 20 min. In the acetic acid-induced writhing model, the extract showed a dose-dependent reduction in the number of writhes at 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg when compared to the control group. The 200 mg/kg dose produced a complete protective effect, as no abdominal constriction was observed. The results obtained in this study provide some justification for the folkloric uses of H. acida as a remedy for relieving pain and  inflammation.Key words: Anti-inflammatory activity, antinociceptive activity, carrageenan, egg-albumin, Hymenocardia acida

Physicochemical assessment and bacteriological studies of hand-dug wells of major markets in south western, Nigeria

Rapid population in developing nations has imposed stress on groundwater resources, thus the need to assess physicochemical and bacteriological impact of microbes on hand-dug wells along some major markets in Ibadan Southwestern Nigeria. Water samples from hand-dug wells were measured sequentially, and total dissolved solute (TDS), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity, and temperature were measured in situ. Water samples were analyzed at a Microbiology Laboratory. Most probable techniques used for micro-organism analysis were in three stages: presumptive test used for confirmation of Escherichia coli, confirmed test for total viable bacteria count (TVBC), and complete test to reconfirm the presence of coliform. Presumptive test showed high rate of E. coli in most of the hand-dug wells with (37.5 %). Confirmed test revealed Staphylococcus aureus to be 25 %, followed by Proteus vulgaris (14.6 %), Bacillus species (12.5 %), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (8.3 %), and Klebsiella spp. (2.1 %) respectively. Total viable bacteria counts are 500 to 192,000. Physicochemical results (total dissolved solute (TDS), pH, electrical conductivity (EC), salinity, temperature) when compared with WHO (2006) and SON (2007) revealed all the parameters to be within the permissible limits except pH (5.8 to 9.56), and high values of the parameters were caused by organic matter. High E. coli in the study area revealed influence of human and animal fecal that coul