Effects of Ethanolic and Aqueous Extract of Morus alba Leaves on Blood Glucose and Cholesterol Levels in Experimental Rabbits

There has been an increase in cases of high cholesterol and high blood pressure in people worldwide. This is due to poor diets consisting of high processed sugar, fats and sugar content, as well as lifestyle that encourage little physical exercise. This study investigated the effects of ethanolic extract and aqueous extract of Morus alba leaves on blood glucose, cholesterol levels on twelve randomly selected rabbits which were fed on commercial rabbit pellets. The weights of rabbits were also analyzed to determine if they were affected by M. alba leaf extract. The rabbits were divided into four groups, Group I (Control) was not administered with any ethanolic extract of M. alba leaves, Group II was administered with ethanolic crude extract of M. alba leaves at a dose of 1ml/kg, Group III were administered with the normal saline dilution plus ethanolic crude extract of M. alba leaves and Group IV were administered with aqueous extract of M. alba. Oral administration of the extract was done for two consecutive days per week. The rabbit’s weight, cholesterol and blood sugar was monitored every week during the study duration. The results indicates that the control increased the most weight (394.67±75.23g) while the rabbits treated with the aqueous extract increased the least (246.67±26.57g). For the control, cholesterol and blood glucose levels increased during the 8 weeks of study while the other groups cholesterol and blood glucose levels decreased. The rabbits treated with normal saline plus ethanolic extract had the most significant decrease in cholesterol levels (41.34±4.19mg/dl) while the rabbits treated with aqueous extract decreased the least (15.33±1.49mg/dl). The rabbits treated with the aqueous extract had the most significant decrease in blood glucose levels (8±1.93mg/dl) while the rabbits treated with the normal saline plus ethanolic extract decreased the least (4.03±0.79mg/dl). There is a notable difference in the weights (ANOVA, F2.95, 28(3) =6.01, P=0.05), cholesterol levels (ANOVA, F2.95, 28(3) =10.79, P=0.05) and blood glucose levels (ANOVA, F2.95, 28(3) =33.76, P=0.05) of the four groups of the experimental rabbits after the eight weeks of treatment. Keywords: Morus alba, aqueous, cholesterol, ethanolic, extract

DETERMINATION OF ANTIGEN LEVELS: T-PLASTIN, TRANSGELIN AND CA-125 IN BABOONS WITH INDUCED ENDOMETRIOSIS

Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterine cavity and is associated with chronic intra-pelvic inflammation. Its symptoms, which are often severe, have a negative impact on a woman’s quality of life. They include chronic pelvic pain and infertility. It is estimated that about 10% women in their reproductive ages are affected by the disease globally. Currently, diagnostic methods are laparoscopy with histological confirmation and non-invasive such as ultrasound and the quantification of CA-125 biomarker in serum. CA-125 is known to be elevated in endometriosis, however it does not have sufficient diagnostic power as a single biomarker of endometriosis. Due to this, there is a need to determine other antigens that would act as potential biomarkers for endometriosis. It has been observed that Transgelin and T-Plastin are upregulated in endometriosis lesions and in secretory phase of endometrium respectively. There is insufficient data available showing the concentration of T-plastin in serum or plasma in the development of endometriosis. The main objective of this study was to identify whether T-plastin, Transgelin and CA-125 are potential biomarkers in early diagnosis of endometriosis using animal model for endometriosis. The baboon model represents clinically relevant research models for endometriosis. This study compared the levels of T-plastin, Transgelin and CA-125 in the peripheral blood and peritoneal fluid of baboons before and after induction of endometriosis. In this prospective, case-control study, ten female baboons (Papio anubis, 9-15 kg each) of proven fertility that have had at least one menstruation during captivity, were induced by intra-pelvic injection of menstrual endometrium on day 1 or 2 of menstruation followed by staging laparoscopy. Serum and peritoneal fluid samples were collected prior to induction to serve as controls.T-Plastin, Transgelin and CA-125 were measured using commercially available ELISA Kits. Data was analyzed using non-parametric test and level of significance at p<0.005. T-Plastin and Transgelin had insignificant p values in both peripheral blood and peritoneal fluid while CA-125 showed p=0.0003 in peripheral blood and p=0.0279 in peritoneal fluid. Diagnostic performance of individual biomarkers was determined by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) with the Area under the curve (AUC) equal to 0.5 showing T-Plastin and Transgelin in both serum and peritoneal fluid unreliable for use as biomarkers in endometriosis. CA-125 levels in peritoneal fluid had an AUC of 0.7900 indicating it can be used as potential biomarkers for endometriosis. Key words: Endometriosis, biomarkers, T-Plastin, Transgelin, CA-125, ELISA, Olive Baboons. DOI: 10.7176/ALST/75-06 Publication date:August 31st 201

The epidemiology of tuberculosis in Kenya, a high TB/HIV burden country (2000-2013)

Interest in the epidemiology of TB was triggered by the re-emergence of tuberculosis in the early 1990’s with the advent of HIV and falling economic status of many people which subjected them to poverty. The dual lethal combination of HIV and poverty triggered an unprecedented TB epidemic. In this study, we focused on the period 2000-2013 and all the notified data in Kenya was included. Data on estimates of TB incidence, prevalence and mortality was extracted from the WHO global Tuberculosis database. Data was analysed to produce trends for each of the years and descriptive statistics were calculated. The results showed that there was an average decline of 5% over the last 8 years with the highest decline being reported in the year 2012/13. TB continues to disproportionately affect the male gender with 58% being male and 42% being female. Kenya has made significant efforts to address the burden of HIV among TB patients with cotrimoxazole preventive therapy (CPT) uptake reaching 98% and ART at 74% by the end of 2013. Kenya’s TB epidemic has evolved over time and it has been characterised by a period where there was increase in the TB cases reaching a peak in the year 2007 after which there was a decline which began to accelerate in the year 2011. The gains in the decline of TB could be attributed in part to the outcomes of integrating TB and HIV services and these gains should be sustained. What is equally notable is the clear epidemiologic shift in age indicating reduced transmission in the younger age groups

Spatial temporal modelling of tuberculosis in Kenya using small area estimation

Tuberculosis, a highly infectious disease which is transmitted within and between communities when infected and susceptible individuals interact. Tuberculosis at present is a major public health problem and continues to take toll on the most productive members of the community. An understanding of disease spread dynamics of infectious diseases continues to play a critical role in design of disease control strategies. Modeling of Tuberculosis is useful in understanding disease dynamics as it will guide the importance of basic science as well as public policy, prevention and control of the emerging infectious disease and modeling the spread of the disease. This study sought to establish how long under different frameworks will TB disease recede to extinction. In this study, deterministic and stochastic models for the trends of tuberculosis cases over time in Kenya were developed. Susceptible Infective (SI), Susceptible Infective and Recovered (SIR) and Susceptible Exposed Infective and Recovered (SEIR) models were considered. These models were modified in order to fit the data more precisely (age structure and predisposing factors of the incident cases). The SIR and SEIR model with non-linear incidence rates were further looked at and the stability of their solutions were evaluated. The results indicate that both deterministic and stochastic models can give not only an insight but also an integral description of TB transmission dynamics. Both deterministic and stochastic models fit well to the Kenyan TB epidemic model however with varying time periods. The models show that for deterministic model the number of infected individuals increases dramatically within three years and begins to fall quickly when the transmissible acts are 10 and 15 and falls to close to zero by 15 years but when the transmissible act is 5 the number infected peaks by the 11th year and declines to zero by year 31, while for stochastic models the number infected falls exponentially but when the transmissible acts is 15 the decline is slow and will get to zero by the 53rd year while for 10 transmissible acts to declines to zero by the 18th year. The other transmissible acts (1, 3, 5) decline to zero by the 9th year. From this study we conclude that if the national control program continues with the current interventions it could take them up to the next 31 years to bring the infection numbers to zero if the deterministic model is considered, while in the stochastic model with accelerated interventions and high recovery rate and assuming that there is no change in the risk factors it could take them up to 11 years to bring the infections to zero

An application of deterministic and stochastic processes to model evolving epidemiology of tuberculosis in Kenya

Tuberculosis, a highly infectious disease which is transmitted within and between communities when infected and susceptible individuals interact. Tuberculosis at present is a major public health problem and continues to take toll on the most productive members of the community. An understanding of disease spread dynamics of infectious diseases continues to play a critical role in design of disease control strategies. Modeling of Tuberculosis is useful in understanding disease dynamics as it will guide the importance of basic science as well as public policy, prevention and control of the emerging infectious disease and modeling the spread of the disease. This study sought to establish how long under different frameworks will TB disease recede to extinction. In this study, deterministic and stochastic models for the trends of tuberculosis cases over time in Kenya were developed. Susceptible Infective (SI), Susceptible Infective and Recovered (SIR) and Susceptible Exposed Infective and Recovered (SEIR) models were considered. These models were modified in order to fit the data more precisely (age structure and predisposing factors of the incident cases). The SIR and SEIR model with non-linear incidence rates were further looked at and the stability of their solutions were evaluated. The results indicate that both deterministic and stochastic models can give not only an insight but also an integral description of TB transmission dynamics. Both deterministic and stochastic models fit well to the Kenyan TB epidemic model however with varying time periods. The models show that for deterministic model the number of infected individuals increases dramatically within three years and begins to fall quickly when the transmissible acts are 10 and 15 and falls to close to zero by 15 years but when the transmissible act is 5 the number infected peaks by the 11th year and declines to zero by year 31, while for stochastic models the number infected falls exponentially but when the transmissible acts is 15 the decline is slow and will get to zero by the 53rd year while for 10 transmissible acts to declines to zero by the 18th year. The other transmissible acts (1, 3, 5) decline to zero by the 9th year. From this study we conclude that if the national control program continues with the current interventions it could take them up to the next 31 years to bring the infection numbers to zero if the deterministic model is considered, while in the stochastic model with accelerated interventions and high recovery rate and assuming that there is no change in the risk factors it could take them up to 11 years to bring the infections to zero

Recycling of Cement Kiln Dust in Red Clay Bricks and its Impact on their Physico- Mechanical Behaviors

Abstract- Cement industry in Egypt produced large amounts of cement kiln dust (CKD) in the form of powder, and has to be discarded. The present work aims to study the effect of cement kiln dust on the physical and mechanical properties of red clay bricks. This could be cost effective by utilization of this material in a useful application and it can helpful in tempering the associated environmental problems. Brick samples of 70 mm, 35 mm and 20 mm dimensions were manufactured where the raw clay material was mixed with various proportions (2%, 4%, 8%, 10%, and 12%) of CKD. These mixtures were prepared in batches which mixed with water to form plastic masses and sintered in an electric furnace (950 o C – 1100 o C) for three hours, raw clay bricks without additives (0 % CKD) were used as control bricks. Chemical and mineralogical compositions of raw materials (Clay and CKD), physical, mechanical and mineralogical composition of fired bricks were tested. The experimental results revealed that the technological properties of manufactured bricks are strongly influenced by the addition of CKD and firing temperature. The results revealed that the bricks of 2 % CKD fired at 1100 o C achieved the ASTM and Egyptian specifications for the low weathering and high resisting bricks, resulting great contributions to economy and ecology of Egypt. Index Terms- Cement kiln dust, Recycling of waste materials, Fired-clay bricks.

Immunomodulatory effect of aqueous extract of Termitomyces striatus mushroom on enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli-infected mice

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) generates Shiga toxins that causes immunosuppression and diarrhea. Synthetic immunomodulatory drugs are associated with numerous severe effects, necessitating the need for substitute therapeutic agents. This study aimed to determine the immunomodulatory activity of aqueous extract of Termitomyces striatus in in mice infected with EHEC. Mice in the positive control, negative control and two extract-treated groups were administered orally with 200µL of 9×108 CFU/mL EHEC. From day 5, the positive control, negative control, and extract-treated mice were orally administered with levamisole (50mg/kg body weight (bw)), phosphate-buffered saline (vehicle), and aqueous extract of Termitomyces striatus (200 and 400mg/kg body weight), respectively. The control mice received the vehicle only. After the experiment, the mice were euthanized, blood was collected, and white blood cells (WBCs) and differentials analyzed using a hematological analyzer. Immunoglobulin G (IgG), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma (INF-γ) levels were also quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The extract significantly reduced elevated levels of WBCs, neutrophils, monocytes, eosinophils and basophils, as well as significantly enhanced the levels of lymphocytes in EHEC-infected mice (p [ J Adv Biotechnol Exp Ther 2024; 7(2.000): 396-407

Drainage of Excess Irrigation Water at El-Rabwa

Abstract- In arid and semi-arid regions, drainage of excess irrigation water is the next logical step towards improving water management in golf areas and reducing the environmental impacts of subsurface drainage flow. The urbanization and land development in Egypt started more than three decades ago. The construction activities extended from the narrow district in the Nile Valley and Delta toward the vast desert fringes. Desert soil is a problematic soil that may include expansive and collapsible soils, sandstone and limestone in one site. Groundwater related problems in such sites are due to the fact that the presence of water might not be taken into consideration during design and construction phases. El-Rabwa City is located in Giza Governorate at about 25km west of Cairo City. The goal of this paper is to undertake a study of the drainage of irrigation water considering both the topographic features of the ground and the subsurface layers that include impermeable clay layer with variable elevations. In addition, the study aims to investigate possible influence of the excess water on the foundations of the residential units. Hair fractures of some residential units were observed in the area. Excess of irrigation water was thought to be one of the most reasons of the observed fractures. A total of over 300 boreholes, supplemented by additional investigation boreholes, were reviewed. The geotechnical data of the boreholes were used to develop geological model for the site. The geological model of the site revealed the presence of top permeable layers (sand or fractured rock) underlain by impermeable clay layer. The surface topography, together with the permeability of the subsurface layers, determines the division of the excess irrigation water to runoff and infiltration water. The collected geotechnical data was used to study the topography of the subsurface clay layer that plays major role in determining the flow pattern of the excess water portion that permeate or infiltrate to the subsurface. The identification of both the topography and the geological models of the subsurfac

Molecular detection of novel Anaplasma sp . and zoonotic hemopathogens in livestock and their hematophagous biting keds (genus Hippobosca) from Laisamis, northern Kenya.

Funder: Wellcome TrustBackground: Livestock are key sources of livelihood among pastoral communities. Livestock productivity is chiefly constrained by pests and diseases. Due to inadequate disease surveillance in northern Kenya, little is known about pathogens circulating within livestock and the role of livestock-associated biting keds (genus Hippobosca) in disease transmission. We aimed to identify the prevalence of selected hemopathogens in livestock and their associated blood-feeding keds. Methods: We randomly collected 389 blood samples from goats (245), sheep (108), and donkeys (36), as well as 235 keds from both goats and sheep (116), donkeys (11), and dogs (108) in Laisamis, Marsabit County, northern Kenya. We screened all samples for selected hemopathogens by high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis and sequencing of PCR products amplified using primers specific to the genera: Anaplasma, Trypanosoma, Clostridium, Ehrlichia, Brucella, Theileria, and Babesia. Results: In goats, we detected Anaplasma ovis (84.5%), a novel Anaplasma sp. (11.8%), Trypanosoma vivax (7.3%), Ehrlichia canis (66.1%), and Theileria ovis (0.8%). We also detected A. ovis (93.5%), E. canis (22.2%), and T. ovis (38.9%) in sheep. In donkeys, we detected ' Candidatus Anaplasma camelii' (11.1%), T. vivax (22.2%), E. canis (25%), and Theileria equi (13.9%). In addition, keds carried the following pathogens; goat/sheep keds - T. vivax (29.3%) , Trypanosoma evansi (0.86%), Trypanosoma godfreyi (0.86%), and E. canis (51.7%); donkey keds - T. vivax (18.2%) and E. canis (63.6%); and dog keds - T. vivax (15.7%), T. evansi (0.9%), Trypanosoma simiae (0.9%) , E. canis (76%), Clostridium perfringens (46.3%), Bartonella schoenbuchensis (76%), and Brucella abortus (5.6%). Conclusions: We found that livestock and their associated ectoparasitic biting keds carry a number of infectious hemopathogens, including the zoonotic B. abortus. Dog keds harbored the most pathogens, suggesting dogs, which closely interact with livestock and humans, as key reservoirs of diseases in Laisamis. These findings can guide policy makers in disease control