Renal function status of Nigerian patients infected with Hepatitis B virus

In Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. It has also been implicated in a variety of renal diseases. This relationship was investigated in hepatitis B virus patients in Nigeria where the infection is highly endemic. Fifty hepatitis B positive patients (aged 27.3 ± 7.5 years) and 50 control subjects (aged 25.1 ± 3.6 years) were recruited in this study. Random blood sample was drawn from all subjects. Serum electrolyte, urea and creatinine were measured using standard laboratory methods. Serum potassium concentration was higher (5.16 ± 2.30, p<0.05) in hepatitis B carriers compared to controls (4.25 ± 0.5). There was an inverse correlation between bicarbonate and chloride (r = -0.67, p<0.01) in HBV patients. Results from this study showed a possible relationship between hepatitis B infection and insufficient renal function.KEYWORDS: Hepatitis B virus, renal disease, electrolyte

Aquatic Environmental Contamination: The fate of Asejire Lake in South-Western Nigeria

In Nigeria major cities face serious water pollution crises, in which lack of environmental control of water-dependent activities play an important part. This generates unpleasant implications for health and economic development since most urban and rural areas depend upon lakes and rivers for their water supplies. A study of catfish from Asejire Lake (located at the outskirt of Ibadan, a major city in Oyo State of South-West Nigeria) was carried out to assess the level of contamination due to effluents from various industries in Ibadan, Oyo State particularly the Nigerian Bottling Company, Plc (NBC). The industrial site is located close to the lake and is known to be passing effluent to it. Heavy metals analysis was carried out by the use of an atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) using an airacetylene flame in the Alpha-4 ChemTech spectrophotometer. The result shows that Fe had the highest concentration (11.9 ppm), this was evidenced by an absorption peak at 406 nm and the high level of Fe after its AAS metal determination experiment. The other metals gave the following concentration: Ni (0.9 ppm), Mg (0.47 ppm), Mn (0.45 ppm), Zn (0.35 ppm), Ca (0.06 ppm), Cu and Co (0.00 ppm). These metals had a threshold in which the body can take before they will be lethal, as a result, accumulation and continuous consumption of these aquatics and drinking of the water can lead to coma or death. Fish stocks are at the upper end of the food chains and are vital food supplies to local populations and thus they present a major source of contaminants to local communities. Therefore this project highlights the need for environmental regulation and policy intervention in other to prevent the risk attached to accumulation of these contaminants via the water and the aquatic life. This paper focused on the instruments needed by the policy maker to be better informed and understand how to create a cleaner environment for people so as to increase the economy, health and well being of the people.Key words: Asejire lake, pollution, contamination, catfish

Assessing the Efficacy of Azadirachta indica Seed Extract on Fusarium Oxysporum

Global population pressure has posed great challenge on food security with over 800 million people having no access to adequate food and about two billion faced with hunger and malnutrition. Banana (Musa spp.) is the world’s fourth most important global food crop after rice, wheat and maize in terms of production. The cultivation of banana is however threatened by pests and diseases and diverse anthropogenic activities which have influenced and changed the climate. Generally, climate change impacts on agriculture and food security across the globe decreasing crop productivity while extreme weather conditions such as flooding, drought, hurricanes etc. increase disease transmission. Fusarium oxysporum, a soil borne fungus affects banana production, causing vascular wilts and damage to banana plantations by infecting plant roots, cortex and stele. Several fungicides have been employed to curb these losses. Plant extracts have, however, played significant role in the inhibition of seed-borne pathogenic F. oxysporum. Eco-friendly Neem (Azadirachta indica) extracts have been reported to gain prominence over inorganic fungicides. This study investigated the effectiveness of Neem (Azadirachta indica) seed extract at varying concentrations of 10, 20 and 50% against F. oxysporum in Potato Dextrose medium for 120 h. using pour plate and cork boring methods. The results obtained showed inhibited growth of the test fungus with 50% having the greatest percentage inhibition. This indicates that A. indica seed extract has fungicidal effect on F. oxysporum and has the potential to curb banana losses and hence enhance banana production and thus ensure food security