Relationship between Viable Bacterial Counts and Physicochemical Properties of Cocoa Powders and Powdered Cocoa Beverages purchased in Nigerian Supermarkets

Cocoa powders (CPs) and powdered cocoa beverages (PCBs) are largely consumed as health and vitality drinks in Nigeria. In view of the recent reports that these food products supported bacterial growth, this study determined whether there could be definite relationship between viable bacterial counts and physicochemical properties of five brands of CPs and PCBs purchased from supermarkets in Ibadan and Lagos in South West, Nigeria. The pH and titratable acidity of the products were measured by using pH meter and colorimetric acidity titration respectively. The moisture contents were determined by drying method at 105ºC in oven and ash by mineralization at 550ºC using furnace. No definite type of relationship was established between viable bacterial counts and pH, titratable acidity (lactic acid, acetic acid), moisture and ash contents vis-à-vis powdery and granular natures of the cocoa food products. Only the two PCBs tightly packed in the polythene sachets had acceptable mean viable bacterial counts, which did not exceed 5.0 x 103 cfu/ml specified for cocoa powders in food industries. Also, only two of the five brands had acceptable moisture contents, which did not exceed the national specification of 3.10% for cocoa powders. Furthermore, the ash contents of all the brands exceeded the acceptable national specification of 2.60%. Significant variations (P<0.05) were obtained in the mean pH, titratable acidity, viable bacterial counts, moisture and ash contents within and between products containing only cocoa powders and those containing additives. In conclusion, the results from this study showed that the physicochemical properties of cocoa powders and powdered cocoa beverages could not be used to predict the viable bacterial counts of these food products. Key words: Cocoa Powders, Powdered Cocoa Beverages, Physicochemical Properties, Viable Bacterial Counts

Honey: A Therapeutic Agent for Disorders of the Skin

Problems with conventional treatments for a range of dermatological disorders have led scientists to search for new compounds of therapeutic value. Efforts have included the evaluation of natural products such as honey. Manuka honey, for example, has been scientifically recognised for its anti-microbial and wound healing properties and is now used clinically as a topical treatment for wound infections. In this review, scientific evidence for the effectiveness of honey in the treatment of wounds and other skin conditions is evaluated. A plethora of in vitro studies have revealed that honeys from all over the world have potent anti-microbial activity against skin relevant microbes. Moreover, a number of in vitro studies suggest that honey is able to modulate the skin immune system. Clinical research has shown honey to be efficacious in promoting the healing of partial thickness burn wounds while its effectiveness in the treatment of non-burn acute wounds and chronic wounds is conflicted. Published research investigating the efficacy of honey in the treatment of other types of skin disorders is limited. Nevertheless, positive effects have been reported, for example, kanuka honey from New Zealand was shown to have therapeutic value in the treatment of rosacea. Anti-carcinogenic effects of honey have also been observed in vitro and in a murine model of melanoma.  It can be concluded that honey is a biologically active and clinically interesting substance but more research is necessary for a comprehensive understanding of its medicinal value in dermatology.

Relationship between Viable Bacterial Counts and Physicochemical Properties of Cocoa Powders and Powdered Cocoa Beverages Purchased in Nigerian Supermarkets

Cocoa powders (CPs) and powdered cocoa beverages (PCBs) are largely consumed as health and vitality drinks in Nigeria. In view of the recent reports that these food products supported bacterial growth, this study determined whether there could be definite relationship between viable bacterial counts and physicochemical properties of five brands of CPs and PCBs purchased from supermarkets in Ibadan and Lagos in South West, Nigeria. The pH and titratable acidity of the products were measured by using pH meter and colorimetric acidity titration respectively. The moisture contents were determined by drying method at 105ºC in oven and ash by mineralization at 550ºC using furnace. No definite type of relationship was established between viable bacterial counts and pH, titratable acidity (lactic acid, acetic acid), moisture and ash contents vis-à-vis powdery and granular natures of the cocoa food products. Only the two PCBs tightly packed in the polythene sachets had acceptable mean viable bacterial counts, which did not exceed 5.0 x 103 cfu/ml specified for cocoa powders in food industries. Also, only two of the five brands had acceptable moisture contents, which did not exceed the national specification of 3.10% for cocoa powders. Furthermore, the ash contents of all the brands exceeded the acceptable national specification of 2.60%. Significant variations (P<0.05) were obtained in the mean pH, titratable acidity, viable bacterial counts, moisture and ash contents within and between products containing only cocoa powders and those containing additives. In conclusion, the results from this study showed that the physicochemical properties of cocoa powders and powdered cocoa beverages could not be used to predict the viable bacterial counts of these food products

Honey: A Therapeutic Agent for Disorders of the Skin

Problems with conventional treatments for a range of dermatological disorders have led scientists to search for new compounds of therapeutic value. Efforts have included the evaluation of natural products such as honey. Manuka honey, for example, has been scientifically recognised for its anti-microbial and wound healing properties and is now used clinically as a topical treatment for wound infections. In this review, scientific evidence for the effectiveness of honey in the treatment of wounds and other skin conditions is evaluated. A plethora of in vitro studies have revealed that honeys from all over the world have potent anti-microbial activity against skin relevant microbes. Moreover, a number of in vitro studies suggest that honey is able to modulate the skin immune system. Clinical research has shown honey to be efficacious in promoting the healing of partial thickness burn wounds while its effectiveness in the treatment of non-burn acute wounds and chronic wounds is conflicted. Published research investigating the efficacy of honey in the treatment of other types of skin disorders is limited. Nevertheless, positive effects have been reported, for example, kanuka honey from New Zealand was shown to have therapeutic value in the treatment of rosacea. Anti-carcinogenic effects of honey have also been observed in vitro and in a murine model of melanoma. It can be concluded that honey is a biologically active and clinically interesting substance but more research is necessary for a comprehensive understanding of its medicinal value in dermatology.sch_die5pub4469pub

Fertility knowledge, care seeking behavioral pattern and attitudes of infertile men in Lagos, Nigeria

Background: The objective was to study the extent of infertility knowledge, attitude and care seeking behavioral pattern of infertile men in Lagos.Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out using questionnaire between 2009 and 2014. Adult males who were clinically infertile, visiting the clinics for the first time and consented were studied. Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis.Results: Only 226 men, mean age 38±5.8 years participated. Up to 20.8% had sired a child for between >1 but 3 times (mean coitus 2.3±0.9 times) weekly. Only 11.1% knew about male-female factor infertility. Up to 42.9% knew about fertility and the sign of female ovulation and 38.1% correctly defined clinical infertility. Up to 40.3% switched treatment for competency of the new places and exorbitant price by 22.1%. Sixty-six (29.2%) made the first visit to a proper care place within a period >1 but 3 years. Majority (50 %) sought to know the causes of infertility, 14.6% how to improve fertility and 6.6% the reality of male infertility.Conclusions: Majority of the participants sought inappropriate help and delayed in seeking appropriate care. Poor collaboration and referral system observed. There is need for edification of both care providers and seekers to be ethical in their actions. Infertility care cost intervention is needed

Multi-antibiotics Resistant Relatedness of bla-gene Encoded Enteric Bacteria harbouring High Molecular R-plasmids.

Increase prevalence of multi-resistant enteric bacteria isolates encoded with high mobile R-plasmid causing enteric infections was examined among the community residents in Abeokuta, Nigeria. Random cluster sampling of 251 fecal samples of community residents were cultured for enteric bacteria and biotyped. Disc diffusion and Micro-broth dilution assay were used to determine antibiotic susceptibility while R-plasmid was profiled with photo-gel documentation. Antibiotic resistance relatedness was detected using DendroUPGMA construction utility software. Of all isolates obtained, 31.3% were Escherichia coli Klebsiella oxytoca (19.5%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.3%) and Shigella specie (2.0%). Significant high rate of 62.6% showed resistant to Cefuroxime, 61.6% to Ampicillin and Augmentin (54.2%) while 44.7%, 38.9% and 33.9% resist Cotrimoxazole, Ciprofloxacin and Tetracycline respectively at MIC >16 μg/ml (p= 0.004). Only 54.1% harboured high molecular weight R-plasmid (>11.0kbp) and 2.7% having <5kbp R-plasmid weight. Two distinct clusters revealed significant multi-antibiotic resistant relatedness. Cluster A enteric isolates harboured similar R-plasmid of only one bands with high molecular weight more than 11kbp while Cluster B divided into subgroup a and subgroup b comprising different enteric species having similar high molecular weights with high antibiotic resistant expressing more than two plasmid bands showing computed cophenetic correlation of 0.94. Cluster analysis reveal a related high level multi-antibiotics resistant enteric bacteria strains among the community residents suggesting a continuous dissemination and imminent outbreak of resistant enteric pathotypes with resultant epidemic proportion

ANTIBIOTICS RESISTANCE PROFILE OF ESCHERICHIA COLI AND ENTEROBACTER AEROGENES ISOLATED FROM WELL WATERS IN AGO-IWOYE, SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

Staff PublicationEighty percent of all diseases are attributed to unsafe water with about 11.4 billion people in the world suffering from major related diseases at various times. This study was carried out to investigate the antibiotics resistance profile of Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes isolated from well waters in Ago-Iwoye, Southwestern Nigeria. Water samples were collected from ten different wells. The multiple tube fermentation technique was employed to enumerate coliforms using MacConkey broth. Nutrient agar and ethylene methylene blue (EMB) agar were used for the enumeration of Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes. Biochemical characterization was carried out using standard methods. The disk diffusion method was used to determine the antibiotics susceptibility profiles of the bacterial isolates. Results showed that wells contained most probable number (MPN) of bacteria ranging from 43 to 1,100 bacteria per 100 ml. E. coli was present in eight of the wells while E. aerogenes was present in all the wells. Wells B and C had the highest incidence of E. coli with 5.0 x 102 CFU/100ml while wells D and J had no incidence of E. coli. Occurrence of Enterobacter aerogenes was highest in well B (4.5 x102 CFU/100ml), followed by well C (4.0 x102 CFU/100ml) while the lowest occurrence was obtained from well F having a count of 2.0 x 102 CFU/100ml. E. coli was resitant to nitrofurantoin, ampicillin, cephalocidine, sulphafurazole, carbenicillin and sulfamethazole while E. aerogenes was sensitive to colistin, gentamicin and nitrofurantoin but resistant to the remaining antibiotics of the Gram negative disc. For the U4 disc, E. coli was susceptible to colistin sulphate and resistant to all other antibiotics. E. aerogenes was resistant to the entire U4 discs. The presence of E. coli and E. aerogenes suggested faecal pollution, hence the quality of the wells fell strongly below the standard of safe drinking water. Most strains of isolates showed relative resistance to antibiotics investigated in this study and this should be of great concerns to researchers

Geospatial Investigation of Nigerian Honey and Detection of Anti-Enteric Biomarker

Geospatial mapping and antibacterial biomarkers were investigated in Nigerian honey used for therapeutic purposes in several communities affected with prevalent antibiotic-resistant enteric bacilli. Randomly collected enteric bacilli from faecal samples were biotyped and phenotypically assayed for antibiotic resistance and profiled for R plasmids. R plasmid molecular weight and multiantibiotic resistance index (MARI) relatedness were evaluated for resistance among phylogroups. Honey cidal activity, time kill kinetics, and bioactive markers were determined and analysed for geospatial distribution. More than 30% enteric biotypes were resistant to cotrimoxazole, ciprofloxacin, and tetracycline at MIC ≥16 μg/ml (P � 0.004). Two unrelated cluster complexes with diverse antibiotic resistance indices expressed high molecular weight plasmid (14.17 kbp) with 0.73 MARI to two classes of antibiotics. Among the resistant bacilli, only 24.3% (MIC90 500 mg/mL) and 8.1% (MBC90 1000 mg/mL) were susceptible to honey with evidence of 14.85% and 5.94% significant viable reduction at 2 × MIC to less than 2.50 Log10 CFU/mL (P < 0.05). Only alkaloids significantly regressed (P � 0.028) with susceptibility of resistant bacilli significantly correlate with bacteria inhibition (r � 0.534, P � 0.049) at optimal cutoff limit of 0.32 mg/ml. Antibacterial honey with significant alkaloid biomarkers was detected at 3°10′0–3°30′0E and 6°30′0–7°30′0N of Southwest Nigeria. Spatial mapping evidently indicated variation in honey physicochemical and bioactive compounds and identified geographical locations suitable for production of anti-enteric honey rich in alkaloids marker required for prevention and treatment of resistant enteric bacilli infections

Specific Viruses Detected in Nigerian Children in Association with Acute Respiratory Disease

Occurrence of different viruses in acute respiratory tract infections of Nigerian children was examined. Respiratory swabs were collected from 246 children referred to hospital clinics because of acute respiratory symptoms from February through May 2009. Validated real-time RT-PCR techniques revealed nucleic acids of at least one virus group in 189 specimens (77%). Human rhinoviruses and parainfluenza viruses were present each in one third of the children. Adenoviruses, enteroviruses, human metapneumovirus, human bocavirus, and influenza C virus were also relatively common. Possibly due to their seasonal occurrence, influenza A and B virus, and respiratory syncytial virus were detected rarely. We conclude that all major groups of respiratory tract viruses are causing illness in Nigerian children

Antimicrobial activity and time kill kinetics of Nigerian Honeys on multi-resistant Enteric Bacilli

Antimicrobial activities of some Nigeria honeys were tested on multi-antibiotic resistant enteric bacilli strains (MAREBS) that are becoming dreadful among the populace. Enteric bacilli isolated from fecal samples randomly collected from community populace were biotyped and profiled for antibiotic susceptibility by micro-broth dilution assay. Honey physico-chemical and phyto-chemical metabolites were analysed and tested for antimicrobial susceptibility to MAREBS while its time kill kinetics was evaluated. Significant rate of 31.3% Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, (19.5%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15.3%) were found with only 62.6% showed significant resistance to cefotaxime (30μg) and 61.6% to ampicillin (10μg). more than 40% showed significant resistance to Cotrimoxazole, ciprofloxacin and tetracycline with MIC >16 μg/ml (p<0.05). Physico-chemical parameters vary significantly with high phenol and alkaloids contents. Few honey samples showed antimicrobial activity of more than 37% inhibition rate while 8.1% MAREBS were further inhibited at lower MIC 31.25mg/mL, 10.8% at MIC 125mg/mL and 8.1% MIC 250mg/mL, while cidal rate of 8.1% was recorded. Significant reduction in average count of different MAREBS was recorded at honey dilutions of 1:2 and 1:4 to less than 2.10Log10CFU/mL. Amidst global burden of enteric infection with persistence antibiotic resistance, Nigerian honeys showed a reliable bacteriostatic and cidal activity as prospective novel alternative therapy for MAREBS infections