In Vivo Anti-Plasmodial Activity and the Effect of Ethanolic Leaf Extract of Rauvolfia Vomitoria on Hematological and Lipid Parameters in Swiss Mice Infected with Plasmodium Berghei NK 65

Rauvolfia vomitoria is a medicinal plant used locally in Nigeria for the management of malaria and other ailments. The study was conducted to determine the effect of ethanolic leaf extract of R. vomitoria on  hematological and lipid parameters in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei NK65. Swiss mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with P.berghei NK65. The mice were grouped into six groups, of five per group. Only Group A were not infected with P.berghei, Groups B and C served as both positive and negative control while Groups D, E, and F were treated with 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg body weight of R. vomitoria extract. The phytochemical constituents of the extract showed the presence of secondary metabolites like tannin, flavonoids, steroids and saponin. The extract of R.vomitoria showed marked anti-malaria effects in dose seeming fashion from the percentage parasitaemia computed after carrying out suppressive and curative test. The hematological parameters showed that R. vomitoria had a significant increase in HCT, RBC, HGB, and platelet values when compared to negative control. There was a significant increase in plasma TC, TG, VLDL, HDL-C and LDL-C in the infected untreated group compared to other groups. This study showed that R. vomitoria extract suppressed the growth of P. berghei NK65 and it had antihyperglycemic and hypolipidemic effect on animals infected with P. berghei NK65.Keywords: Rauvolfia vomitoria, Anti-plasmodial, Swiss albino mice, Plasmodium berghei NK 65 and Biochemical parameters

Optimization of the Protein Nutritive Value of Wheat/Cassava Breadmix by Supplementing with Limiting Amino-Acids (L-Lysine & L-Methionine)

This study was carried out in line with the National policy on bread to incorporate 10% cassava flour into wheat flour for all bread baked in Nigeria. The objective of this study was to investigate if the addition of 10% cassava flour or more could be accommodated without compromising the nutritive value of bread. The effect of fortifying with limiting amino-acids was also investigated. This study employed a feeding trial and bioassay of tissues from albino rats of Wistar strain, to evaluate the effect of supplementing various levels of wheat/cassava bread mix feed, with 0.1% L-lysine and 0.1% L-methionine. Nine different diet regimens were used with four rats in each diet group. Cassava (100%) diet group was used as the control; and the diets fortified with 0.1% L-lysine and 0.1% Lmethionine used as secondary control. The parameters measured as 'markers' of nutritive value included: body weight changes, food conversion ratio (FCR) and net protein utilisation (NPU). The effects of dietary intake of the various wheat/cassava supplemented diets on haematological indices such as mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration and biochemical indices such as cortisol, total protein and albumin in the plasma of fed rats were also determined. Results indicated that both 10% and 20% cassava input supported adequate nutritional and biochemical development of the fed rats, although fortification of the diets with 0.1% L-lysine and 0.1% L-methionine resulted in 10 – 20% improvement in all the nutritional indicators measured. Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that incorporation of 20% cassava flour into wheat bread supplemented with L-lysine and L-methionine is nutritionally better than, but haematologically and biochemically comparable to whole wheat bread in rats. Therefore, this findings lend support to the national policy on nutrient fortification and cassava incorporation into wheatbread for the general goal of improving food security in Nigeria.Keywords: Bread fortification, Weanling rat, L-methionine, L-Lysine, haematological indices, biochemical indicesNigerian Journal of Parasitology, Vol. 32 [2] September 2011, pp. 287-29

Preliminary investigation of the antibacterial activity of Acalypha hispida leaf extracts against local bacterial isolates from skin infections

Acalypha hispida leaf extracts are used locally for the treatment of skin infections. We sought to obtain laboratory-based evidence for this practice by evaluating the antibacterial activity of this extract against local isolates of bacteria obtained from skin lesions and wounds. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts were evaluated using the agar well diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pyogenes, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella species, and Salmonella typhimurium. S. aureus (ATCC standard and local) and Ps. Aeruginosa isolates were sensitive to all the extracts but one. E. coli (ATCC standard and local), S. enterica serovar typhimurium and Klebsiella species were only sensitive to the soxhlet leaf extracts while S. pyogenes was sensitive to only the ethanolic soxhlet extract. Though there was no statistically significant difference in the antibacterial activity of the 5-days and 14-days neat extracts obtained by soaking in water (p = 0.13) and ethanol (p = 0.08), their antibacterial activity decreased with longer soaking periods. Likewise, there was no significant difference in the antibacterial activity of the neat water and ethanolic soxhlet extracts (p = 0.48). The results show that A. hispida leaf extracts showed some in vitro antibacterial activity and that aqueous extraction using heat would be the preferred option. Keywords: Acalypha hispida, antibacterial, skin infections, aqueous extract, ethanolic extract Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences Vol. 5 (2) 2006: 12-1