Influence of mistletoe (Viscum album) leaf meal on growth performance, carcass characteristics and biochemical profile of broiler chickens

The quest for alternatives to antibiotics has resulted in the discovery of prebiotics. The search for the alterative antibiotics is on-going. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate possible prebiotic potentials inherent in mistletoe (Viscum album) leaf meal with the aim of developing prebiotics as an alternative to antibiotics thus optimizing animal performance, carcass characteristics and a healthy blood profile as indicators of systemic conditions. Five experimental diets were formulated and mistletoe leaf meal (AMLM) was incorporated into the diets at different concentrations (0% with 0.05% antibiotics (positive control), 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% without antibiotics (negative control)). The values of body weight were not significantly different across the treatments. Live weight, bled weight, wings, drumsticks, thighs, breasts and heads were not significantly different across the treatments. Aspartate aminotransferase, globulin and creatinine contents were not significantly different across the treatments. Meanwhile, birds on AMLM-supplemented diets obtained significantly (p < 0.05) higher values of alanine aminotransferase than those on negative control diet (3.75 IU/l). Urea anood glucose contents followed a similar patotern. The AMLM could be used as alternative antibiotics in broiler production, although further studies are required to ascertain this

Evaluation of patients with suspected obstructive sleep apnea in a low-middle income country: Lagos experience

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common chronic disorder that decreases the quality of life of patients. It is an underdiagnosed medical condition in Nigeria. This study aimed to describe the clinical presentations and validate the sleep apnea screening questionnaires with a home sleep study for the diagnosis of patients with suspected OSA seen in Lagos. This was a descriptive cross sectional study carried out on adult patients with suspicion of OSA referred to the Respiratory Clinic of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. A proforma was used to obtain information and also data from home polysomnography was obtained for each patient. We selected 22 patients. The commonest presentations include snoring (20 or 90.9%), daytime somnolence (16 or 72.7%) and choking while sleeping (12 or 54.5%). The commonest comorbidities were hypertension (16 or 72.7%) and obesity (6 or 27.3%). The STOP-Bang  score identified more patients with a high clinical probability for OSA than the Epworth score (20 and 12 patients respectively). Polysomnography showed evidence of sleep apnea in most suspected patients with severity ranging from mild, to moderate to severe disease (3 or 13.6%, 3 or 13.6%, and 10 or 45.5% respectively). The use of combined Epworth and STOP-Bang questionnaires combination is great tool in identifying patients with suspected cases of OSA based on clinical presentations that will eventually benefit in a resource-limited environment like Lagos. There should be increased awareness of the use of this readily available and cheap questionnaire among physicians in Lagos for ease of OSAS diagnosis for many patients

Immunoinformatics assisted design of a multi-epitope kit for detecting <i>Cronobacter sakazakii</i> in powdered infant formula

Objectives: Cronobacter sakazakii, formerly Enterobacter sakazakii, is an emerging ubiquitous and opportunistic foodborne pathogen with a high mortality rate. It has been implicated in cases of meningitis, septicaemia, and necrotizing enterocolitis among infants worldwide in association with powdered infant formula (PIF). This study was an insilico designed peptide base kit framework, using immunoinformatic techniques for quick detection of C. sakazakii in PIF. Materials and Methods: In the present study, a peptide-based kit was designed with a bioinformatic technique to rapidly identify C. sakazakii in PIF using flhE, secY, and bcsC, which are genes responsible for its biofilm formation, as target genes. The antigenicity, membrane topology, and the presence of signal peptides of the target genes were analysed using VaxiJen, DeepTMHMM, and SignalP servers. To provide stability and flexibility to the multiple-epitope construct, the linear B cells and helper T cells (IL-4 (interleukin 4) and IL-10 (interleukin 10) inducing epitopes) were linked with a GSGSG linker followed by the addition of protein disulphide bonds. To ascertain specificity, the multi-epitope construct was molecularly docked against genes from sources other than PIF, like alfalfa, and the environment, with PIF being the highest: –328.48. Finally, the codons were modified using the pET28a(+) vector, and the resultant multi-epitope construct was successfully cloned in silico. Results: The final construct had a length of 486 bp, an instability index of 23.26, a theoretical pI of 9.34, a molecular weight of 16.5 kDa, and a Z-score of –3.41. Conclusions: The multi-epitope peptide construct could be a conceptual framework for creating a C. sakazakii peptide-based detection kit, which has the potential to provide fast and efficient detection. However, there is a need for additional validation through the in vitro and in vivo techniques

COMPARISON OF TOOTH DIMENSIONS OF AN ORTHODONTIC PATIENT POPULATION AND A NORMAL POPULATION OF NIGERIANS

Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the tooth dimensions of an orthodontic patient population with a normal population of Nigerians.Materials and Methods: Participants were orthodontic and control populations selected from Obafemi Awolowo Teaching Hospitals Complex Ile-Ife. Selected participants had full eruption of first six permanent teeth in all quadrants, intact dentition and no conservative treatment other than class 1 restorations. The mesio-distal and bucco-lingual widths of teeth were measured with an electronic digital caliper from dental casts. Independent sample t test was used for group comparisons. Statistical significance was inferred at p &lt;  0.05.Results: Mean maxillary and mandibular mesio-distal tooth dimensions were generally larger in the orthodontic than the control population, however, only the dimensions of maxillary central incisors, left lateral incisor and mandibular left second premolar differed significantly (p &lt; 0.05). Mean maxillary bucco-lingual tooth dimensions were significantly larger among the orthodontic than the control population. Mandibular bucco-lingual dimensions differed significantly for the right canine, left first and second premolars, and right and left first molars (p &lt; 0.05). Tooth dimensions were generally larger in male than female participants, however only a few differences reached statistical significance (p &lt; 0.05)Conclusions: Some differences were observed in the mesio-distal tooth dimensions of the orthodontic patients and control patients who participated in this study, especially in relation to the maxillary incisors. Buccolingual tooth dimensions differed significantly between the groups which were more pronounced with the maxillary teeth. Gender differences were observed with some tooth dimensions.