Role of oxidative stress in therapeutic administration of artesunate on sperm quality and testosterone level in male albino rats

The effects of antioxidants, vitamins C and E, on sperm quality, testosterone levels, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration were studied in artesunate treated rats. 25 male rats (160 to 250 g) divided into five groups were used for the study. Group 1 animals received normal saline and served as control while groups 2 to 5 received artesunate in therapeutic doses of 2.9 mg/Kg body weight on day 1 and 1.45 mg/Kg body weight on days 2 to 5 orally. Following artesunate pretreatment, groups 3, 4 and 5 rats received vitamin C (100 mg/kg), vitamin E (100 mg/kg) and a combination of both respectively orally for the 5 days. There was no significant difference in sperm viability and motility in all groups while count significantly (p<0.05) increased in group 3 animals treated with vitamin C. Serum testosterone level was significantly increased (p< 0.05) in groups 4 and 5. The MDA concentrations were significantly increased (p < 0.05) while SOD activity concurrently decreased significantly (p<0.05) in groups 2, 3, and 5 indicating an oxidative-counter oxidative relationship. It was thus concluded that artesunate at therapeutic doses and duration had no significant effect on sperm quality and serum testosterone level in male rats while vitamin C, and combination of vitamins C and E tend to promote reproductive functions in artesunate-treated male rats.Key words: Artesunate, vitamin C, vitamin E, sperm quality, superoxide dismutase activity, malondialdehyde concentration

Correlation of p16INK4A Expression and HPV Copy Number with Cellular FTIR Spectroscopic Signatures of Cervical Cancer Cells

Cervical cancer, a potentially preventable disease, has its main aetiology in infection by high risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV). Approaches to improving cervical cancer screening and diagnostic methodologies include molecular biological analysis, targeting of biomarker proteins, but also exploration and implementation of new techniques such as vibrational spectroscopy. This study correlates the biomarker protein p16INK4A expression levels dependent on HPV copy number with the infrared absorption spectral signatures of the cervical cancer cell lines, HPV negative C33A, HPV-16 positive SiHa and CaSki and HPV-18 positive HeLa. Confocal fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that p16INK4A is expressed in all investigated cell lines in both nuclear and cytoplasmic regions, although predominantly in the cytoplasm. Flow cytometry was used to quantify the p16INK4A expression levels and demonstrated a correlation, albeit nonlinear, between the reported number of integrated HPV copies and p16INK4A expression levels. CaSki cells were found to have the highest level of expression, HeLa intermediate levels, and SiHa and C33A the lowest levels. FTIR spectra revealed differences in nucleic acid, lipid and protein signatures between the cell lines with varying HPV copy number. Peak intensities exhibited increasing tendency in nucleic acid levels and decreasing tendency in lipid levels with increasing HPV copy number, and although they were found to be nonlinearly correlated with the HPV copy number, their dependence on p16INK4A levels was found to be close to linear. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the Infrared absorption spectra revealed differences between nuclear and cytoplasmic spectroscopic signatures for all cell lines, and furthermore clearly differentiated the groups of spectra representing each cell line. Finally, Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis was employed to construct a model which can predict the p16INK4A expression level based on a spectral fingerprint of a cell line, demonstrating the diagnostic potential of spectroscopic techniques

Gastro-protective activity of aqueous Carica papaya seed extract on ethanol induced gastric ulcer in male rats

Gastro protective effects of aqueous Carica papaya seed extract on ethanol induced gastric ulcer were investigated in male rats. Thirty two (32) male rats weighing between 180 and 250 g were randomly divided into four groups. Group 1 served as the negative control (distilled water), groups 2 and 3 received 50mg/kg and 100mg/kg Carica papaya seed extract respectively, while group 4 received 200mg/kg cimetidine (positive control). Two weeks after the oral administration, gastric ulcer was induced in all rats with ethanol (1 ml of 80% orally). Gastric juice volume, gastric acidity, ulcer index and percentage ulcer inhibition were determined. The results showed that the extract protected the gastric mucosa against ethanol effect. C. papaya extract significantly reduced the gastric juice volume and gastric acidity (p<0.05) in dose dependent manner when compared with the control. The percentage ulcer inhibition was significantly high (p<0.05) in rats treated with the extract when compared with the control and the effect is similar to that of rats treated with cimetidine. This study shows that C. papaya seed extract may possess gastro protective effects against ethanol induced gastric ulcer in male rats.Keywords: Carica papaya, gastro protective, gastric ulce

Data gathering and utilization: humanitarian targeting and ethical issues in northeastern Nigeria

Abstract Introduction There are lapses in Nigeria’s data ecosystems with the consequences of imprecise and inaccurate data on humanitarian crises limiting accurate interventions. Therefore, we examined the data targeting processes in the humanitarian sector of Northeast Nigeria and the ethical concerns that arise when such data is collected and used to advance understanding and improve humanitarian protection systems. Methods The fieldwork was done in two phases in Maiduguri Borno, North-East Nigeria, between 2021 and 2022. This period was selected because it was the climax of IDP camps in the Northeastern part of the country. Maiduguri was selected for the study because it is the capital of Borno state which is the epicenter of insurgency and internal displacements in Nigeria. Hence, a lot of the most vibrant IDP camps in Nigeria were in Maiduguri for care and security reasons. Fifty in-depth interviews were conducted among the displaced persons across five camps. We also interviewed twenty stakeholders and practitioners working with IDPs to understand Nigeria’s data-based humanitarian contexts of internal displacement. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed verbatim by a language expert. The data were coded, and content analyzed to provide context and explore significant operational and ethical issues in data-driven humanitarian protection. Results There are discrepancies in the definition of vulnerability in data gathering, putting into question how targeting is carried out to identify vulnerable people and its implications for exclusion. Different data banks and reliability issues across institutions and actors make room for a multiplicity of data and problematic synergy relative to data and ethics. Inconsistent ethical systems guide data gathering and utilization in IDP camps; for instance, there are ineffective norms of recording and securing informed consent during data gathering. States, partners, and IDP camps confront debilitating capacity gaps and equipment deficits that make updated data gathering, storing, retrieval, and utilization. Paper and digital data storage processes were often used with restricted access to only a few key stakeholders. There is vast data expropriation without standard recourse to justice and beneficence as ethical procedures in the humanitarian data space of northeastern Nigeria as a microcosm of Sub-Saharan African realities. Conclusion There are enormous implications for effective and efficient targeting processes and outcomes, strategic inclusion, and ethical practices in conflict management, humanitarian interventions, and internal displacement in sub-Saharan Africa