Effect of Water Extract Of Tetrapleura Tetraptera (Aidon) On Haematological And Biochemical Parameters in Rats infected With Trypanosoma Brucei

This study investigated whether water extract of Tetrapleura tetraptere has trypanocidal effect against T.brucei in laboratory rats. Studies also examined its effect on the weight, haematological parameters as well as the blood chemical analyses of the infected animals. Results showed that oral administration of the water extract to the infected rats significantly reduced the parasite load, also weight loss was significantly lower in the infected and treated rats than the untreated ones. These positive observations were accompanied by reduced leukocytosis, improved state of anaemia and increased packed cell volume, all of which are indices of recovery from the state of cell toxicity arising from parasitemia. The tolerance of the extract by the animal was evaluated by the determination of the blood chemistries. Results revealed that there was no significant difference in the concentrations of the blood glucose, total protein, uric acid and unconjugated bilirubin in the uninfected but treated rats compared with the "neat" rats which were neither infected nor treated. However, conjugated bilirubin and creatinine values were significantly increased. It was also observed that when the infected animals were treated with the extract, the blood levels of total protein, uric acid, creatinine and unconjugated bilirubin decreased slightly, but consistently, as against the untreated rats. These observations indicate the beneficial effects of the plant extract and suggest that the T. tetraptera may contain active substance(s) which could have therapeutic effect against trypanosome infection. Nigerian Quarterly Journal of Hospital Medicine Vol. 9, No. 1 (1999) pp. 66-7

Radiosynthesis and biodistribution of cyclic RGD peptides conjugated with novel [¹⁸F] fluorinated aldehyde-containing prosthetic groups

Achieving high-yielding, robust, and reproducible chemistry is a prerequisite for the <sup>18</sup>F-labeling of peptides for quantitative receptor imaging using positron emission tomography (PET). In this study, we extend the toolbox of oxime chemistry to include the novel prosthetic groups [<sup>18</sup>F]-(2-{2-[2-(2-fluoroethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxy}ethoxy)acetaldehyde, [<sup>18</sup>F]5, and [<sup>18</sup>F]-4-(3-fluoropropoxy)benzaldehyde, [<sup>18</sup>F]9, in addition to the widely used 4-[<sup>18</sup>F]fluorobenzaldehyde, [<sup>18</sup>F]12. The three <sup>18</sup>F-aldehydes were conjugated to the same aminooxy-bearing RGD peptide and the effect of the prosthetic group on biodistribution and tumor uptake studied in mice. The peptide conjugate [<sup>18</sup>F]7 was found to possess superior in vivo pharmacokinetics with higher tumor to blood, tumor to liver, tumor to muscle, and tumor to lung ratios than either [<sup>18</sup>F]10 or [<sup>18</sup>F]13. The radioactivity from the [<sup>18</sup>F]7 conjugate excreted more extensively through the kidney route with 79%id passing through the urine and bladder at the 2 h time point compared to around 55%id for the more hydrophobic conjugates [<sup>18</sup>F]10 and [<sup>18</sup>F]13. The chemical nature of a prosthetic group can be employed to tailor the overall biodistribution profile of the radiotracer. In this example, the hydrophilic nature of the ethylene glycol containing prosthetic group [<sup>18</sup>F]5 clearly influences the overall excretion pattern for the RGD peptide conjugate