Synthesis and neuropharmacological activity of some quinoxalinone derivatives

Eight quinoxalinone derivatives were synthesized and investigated for some neuropharmacological effects (analgesia, sedation, convulsion, anxiety, memory and psychosis) in mice and rats. In the CNSdepressant activity, N,N-dibenzyl-2,3-dioxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoxaline-6-sulfonamide is the mostactive, while the other compounds appear variously dose-dependent. Only three of the compounds showed anxiolytic effect, with N,N-dibenzyl-2,3-dioxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoxaline-6-sulfonamideshowing the highest activity at 2.5 mg/kg. At the dose of 30 mg/kg, 6-nitro-1,4-dihydroquinoxaline-2,3-dione showed a better anxiolytic effect in mice than diazepam (dose: 1 mg/kg), while 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (dose: 25 mg/kg) showed a comparative effect to diazepam. 6-Chloro-1,4-dihydro-quinoxaline-2,3-dione and N,N-dibenzyl-2,3-dioxo-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoxaline-6-sulfonamideshowed significant anticonvulsant action. None of the compounds showed any analgesic or antidopaminergiceffect. The LD50 (24 h) calculated for the compounds were between 74 and 160 mg/kg i.p

Correlating the site of tympanic membrane perforation with Hearing loss

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Field Testing of Different Chemical Combinations as Odour Baits for Trapping Wild Mosquitoes in The Gambia

Odour baited traps have potential use in population surveillance of insect vectors of disease, and in some cases for vector population reduction. Established attractants for human host-seeking mosquitoes include a combination of CO2 with L-lactic acid and ammonia, on top of which additional candidate compounds are being tested. In this field study in rural Gambia, using Latin square experiments with thorough randomization and replication, we tested nine different leading candidate combinations of chemical odorants for attractiveness to wild mosquitoes including anthropophilic malaria vectors, using modified Mosquito Magnet-X (MM-X) counterflow traps outside experimental huts containing male human sleepers. Highest catches of female mosquitoes, particularly of An. gambiae s.l. and Mansonia species, were obtained by incorporation of tetradecanoic acid. As additional carboxylic acids did not increase the trap catches further, this ‘reference blend’ (tetradecanoic acid with L-lactic acid, ammonia and CO2) was used in subsequent experiments. MM-X traps with this blend caught similar numbers of An. gambiae s.l. and slightly more Mansonia and Culex mosquitoes than a standard CDC light trap, and these numbers were not significantly affected by the presence or absence of human sleepers in the huts. Experiments with CO2 produced from overnight yeast cultures showed that this organic source was effective in enabling trap attractiveness for all mosquito species, although at a slightly lower efficiency than obtained with use of CO2 gas cylinders. Although further studies are needed to discover additional chemicals that increase attractiveness, as well as to optimise trap design and CO2 source for broader practical use, the odour-baited traps described here are safe and effective for sampling host-seeking mosquitoes outdoors and can be incorporated into studies of malaria vector ecology

Sagittal plane mal-alignment in lumbar spinal radiographs in a tertiary hospital

Background: Plane radiograph of the spine is still the primary or first line investigation in patients with a variety of symptoms including back pain in a resource limited setting like ours.Methods: A crosssectional study of radiographs of patients who were referred to Radiology Department of Jos University Teaching Hospital for lumbo-sacral radiography between July 2013 and April 2014 was carried out.Results: Two hundred and forty two lumbo-sacral radiographs were assessed comprising 166 (68.6%) females and 76 (31.4%) males with a mean age of 48±15 years. Overall 15 (6.2%) patients were found with mal-alignment in the sagittal plane consisting 10 females and 5 males with a female to male ratio of 2:1. Anterolisthesis occurred in 11(4.5%) and retrolisthesis in 4 (1.7%). First degree slip dominated in 9/15 (60%) of the patients with listhesis, while second degree slip was found in 6 (40%). Most of the observed vertebral subluxation (7; 46.7%) occurred at the L4/L5 intervertebral disc space.Conclusions: Mal-alignment in the sagittal plane in lumbar spine radiographs in our locality demonstrates comparable pattern and localization with that seen elsewhere.Keywords: Lumbar Spine, Radiographs, Listhesis, Malalignmen

Outcome of non-operative management of femoral shaft fractures in children

Background: Femoral shaft fractures are common injuries in childhood. There is paucity of information on their presentation and outcome of the available treatment methods in the African population. Thisstudy evaluated the outcome of non-operative methods of treatment of femoral shaft fractures in our centre.Patients and Methods: A retrospective review of the database of children aged 14 years and below with femoral shaft fractures treated nonoperatively over a 10-year period.Results: A total of 134 patients with 138 fractures met the study criteria.This consisted of 71 boys (mean age = 6.1 years ± SD) and 63 girls (mean age = 6.5 years ± SD). Pedestrian vehicular accident was the most common cause of femoral shaft fractures in the study population. Themidshaft was the most common site of fractures. There were associated injuries to other parts of the body (especially head injury) in 34.3% of the patients. The commonest mode of treatment was skin traction only (87.7%). The mean time to fracture union was 4.9 weeks ± SD (range = 3–15 weeks). The mean length of hospitalisation was 6.7 weeks ± SD (range = 5 days–11 weeks). There was a fairly strong positive correlation between the length of hospitalisation and the presence of associated injuries, especially head injury, upper limb fractures and bilaterality ofthe fractures. The mean total cost of treatment was #7685 (Naira) or $51.2 (range =$14.2–$190). At the last follow up, 97.8% of the fractures united without significant angulation or shortening.Conclusion: The outcome of non-operative treatment of femoral shaftfractures in our setting is comparable to the results of other workers. Methods of treatment that shorten the length of hospitalisation without unduly increasing cost should be encouraged

The Spaghetti Wrist Injuries: Presentation and Treatment

Background: Spaghetti wrist injuries are devastating and may lead to permanent disability. The outcome of the repairs depends on how early the repair is undertaking.Patient and Method: This is a review of spaghetti wrist injuries that were managed by our unit from June 2004 to September 2012. The information that were obtained from the operation register and case notes included demographic data, aetiology, time of presentation, mechanism of injury, affected limb, type of laceration, number and pattern of structure lacerated and type of repair.Results: Nine patients were managed; five males and four females. Their age ranged from 11 years to 42 years. Five of them sustained machete injury from assault and the rest from glass cut. The left wrist was involved in five patients and the right in the other four. All assault injuries involved the left wrist except in one. Six of the patients had primary repair while the rest had secondary repair. The most common injured structures were the ulnar nerve and artery which occurred in all patients followed by the median nerve. A total of 101 structures (average of 11.2) were transected the highest being the tendons (8.3) followed by nerves (1.9) and arteries (1). Injury to the ulnar triad of ulnar artery, ulnar nerve and flexor carpi ulnaris occur more frequently (88.9%) than the radial triad (33.3%) of the median nerve, flexor carpi radialis and Palmaris longus that are more central and close to the radial side of the wrist.Conclusion: Early presentation and repair of spaghetti wrist injury gives a better outcome. However, late presentations do occur which is still amenable to secondary repair.Key words: Spaghetti wrist, flexor tendons, ulnar nerve, median nerve, early repair, secondary repai

Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Activities Of Some Nigerian Medicinal Plants

Ten Nigerian plants suggested from their ethnomedical uses to possess antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were studied for their anti-microbial and anti-oxidant properties. Antimicrobial activity was tested against Escherichia coli NCTC 10418, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans, Candida pseudotropicalis and Trichophyton rubrum (clinical isolate). Trichilia heudelotti leaf extract showed both antibacterial and antifungal activities and was the most active against all the strains of bacteria tested. Boerhavia diffusa, Markhamia tomentosa and T. heudelotti leaf extracts inhibited the gram negative bacteria E.coli and P. aeruginosa strains whereas those of M. tomentosa, T. heudelotti and Sphenoceutrum jollyamum root inhibited at least one of the fungi tested. At a concentration of 312 μg/ml, hexane and chloroform fractions of T. heudelotti extract inhibited 6 and 14% of the fifty mult-idrug resistant bacteria isolates from clinical infectins, respectively. At ≤ 5mg/ml, the CHCl3 (64%) and aqueous (22%) fractions of T. heudelotti and those of CHCl3 (34%) and EtOAC (48%) of M. tomentosa gave the highest inhibition that was stronger than their corresponding methanol extracts. The corresponding EC50 of the extracts on M. acuminata, T. heudelotti, E. senegalensis and M. tomentosa were 4.00, 6.50, 13.33, and 16.50 ig/ml using the TLC staining and 1,1-dipheyl-2-picry-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. Therefore, leaf extracts of M. tomentosa and T. heudelotti, especially the latter, possess strong antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and should be further investigated. These activities justified the ethnomedical uses of these plants. Keywords: keAntimicrobial, antifungal, antioxidant properties, Nigerian medicinal plants. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines Vol. 4 (2) 2007: pp.173-18

The Nigeria Parkinson Disease Registry: Process, Profile, and Prospects of a Collaborative Project

BACKGROUND: Clinical disease registries are useful for quality improvement in care, benchmarking standards, and facilitating research. Collaborative networks established thence can enhance national and international studies by generating more robust samples and credible data and promote knowledge sharing and capacity building. This report describes the methodology, baseline data, and prospects of the Nigeria Parkinson Disease Registry. METHODS: This national registry was established in November 2016. Ethics approval was obtained for all sites. Basic anonymized data for consecutive cases fulfilling the United Kingdom Parkinson's Disease Brain Bank criteria (except the exclusion criterion of affected family members) are registered by participating neurologists via a secure registry website (www.parkinsonnigeria.com) using a minimal common data capture format. RESULTS: The registry had captured 578 participants from 5 of 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria by July 2019 (72.5% men). Mean age at onset was 60.3 ± 10.7 years; median disease duration (interquartile range) was 36 months (18–60.5 months). Young‐onset disease (<50 years) represented 15.2%. A family history was documented in 4.5% and 7.8% with age at onset <50 and ≥ 50, respectively. The most frequent initial symptom was tremor (45.3%). At inclusion, 93.4% were on treatment (54.5% on levodopa monotherapy). Per‐capita direct cost for the registry was $3.37. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first published national Parkinson's disease registry in sub‐Saharan Africa. The registry will serve as a platform for development of multipronged evidence‐based policies and initiatives to improve quality of care of Parkinson's disease and research engagement in Nigeria