Compliance of agrochemical marketers with banned cocoa pesticides in southwest Nigeria

This study investigated the compliance of marketers of agrochemicals with the approved and banned cocoa pesticides in selected cocoa producing states of southwest Nigeria. Primary data was collected through the use of structured questionnaire administered to randomly selected agrochemical marketers. All the marketers (100%) were aware of the recently banned cocoa pesticides, however, majority still have the pesticides in stock. About 70.6% of the marketers in Osun state and 58.8% in Ogun state stated that they did not receive information on the banned pesticides from government agencies but through other channels. More than half of the marketers (52.9% in Ogun, 55% in Kwara and 47.1% in Osun) strongly disagreed that government should place a ban on pesticides. Availability of banned pesticides in their stock, insufficient information from the concerned government agricultural agencies, and fear of short supply of approved pesticides are among the reasons proffered by the marketers for not supporting the ban of pesticides. Relevant government regulatory agencies should conduct a comprehensive inventory of pesticides offered for sale by the marketers of agrochemicals. There should be massive public awareness programme, and wellcoordinated association for all the marketers of agrochemicals. Agrochemical manufacturers should translate instructions and warnings on pesticide labels to local languages understood by the farmers.U ovom radu je istraživana usaglašenost prodavaca agrohemikalija sa odobrenim i zabranjenim pesticidima koji se koriste u državama jugozapadne Nigerije koje prizvode kakao. Primarni podaci su prikupljeni pomoću struktuiranog upitnika koji je podeljen slučajno odabranim prodavcima agrohemikalija. Svi prodavci (100%) su bili upoznati sa nedavno zabranjenim pesticidima za kakao, ali ipak većina njih i dalje ima te pesticide u ponudi. Oko 70,6% prodavaca u državi Osun i 58,8% u državi Ogun je navelo da nisu dobili nikakvu informaciju u vezi sa zabranjenim pesticidima od vladinih agencija, već putem drugih kanala. Više od polovine prodavaca (52,9% u državi Ogun, 55% u državi Kwara i 47,1% u državi Osun) se oštro usprotivila tome da vlada treba da stavi zabranu na pesticide. Dostupnost zabranjenih pesticida u skladištima, nedovoljno informacija od odgovarajućih vladinih agencija za poljoprivredu, kao i strah od nestašice odobrenih pesticida su među razlozima za nepodržavanje zabrane korišćenja pesticida koje su naveli prodavci. Relevantne vladine regulacione agencije treba da sastave svebuhvatan spisak pesticida koje prodaju prodavci agrohemikalijama. Takođe bi trebalo obezbediti i program o javnoj svesti, kao i dobro koordinisano udruženje za sve prodavce agrohemikalija. Proizvođači agrohemikalija bi trebalo da prevedu uputstva i upozorenja na etiketama koje se nalaze na ambalažama pesticida na lokalne jezike koje poljoprivrednici razumeju.http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=AGShb201

Metal complexes in cancer therapy – an update from drug design perspective

Umar Ndagi, Ndumiso Mhlongo, Mahmoud E Soliman Molecular Modelling and Drug Design Research Group, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, Durban, South Africa Abstract: In the past, metal-based compounds were widely used in the treatment of disease conditions, but the lack of clear distinction between the therapeutic and toxic doses was a major challenge. With the discovery of cisplatin by Barnett Rosenberg in 1960, a milestone in the history of metal-based compounds used in the treatment of cancers was witnessed. This forms the foundation for the modern era of the metal-based anticancer drugs. Platinum drugs, such as cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin, are the mainstay of the metal-based compounds in the treatment of cancer, but the delay in the therapeutic accomplishment of other metal-based compounds hampered the progress of research in this field. Recently, however, there has been an upsurge of activities relying on the structural information, aimed at improving and developing other forms of metal-based compounds and nonclassical platinum complexes whose mechanism of action is distinct from known drugs such as cisplatin. In line with this, many more metal-based compounds have been synthesized by redesigning the existing chemical structure through ligand substitution or building the entire new compound with enhanced safety and cytotoxic profile. However, because of increased emphasis on the clinical relevance of metal-based complexes, a few of these drugs are currently on clinical trial and many more are awaiting ethical approval to join the trial. In this review, we seek to give an overview of previous reviews on the cytotoxic effect of metal-based complexes while focusing more on newly designed metal-based complexes and their cytotoxic effect on the cancer cell lines, as well as on new approach to metal-based drug design and molecular target in cancer therapy. We are optimistic that the concept of selective targeting remains the hope of the future in developing therapeutics that would selectively target cancer cells and leave healthy cells unharmed. Keywords: cancer, DNA, platinum, metal complexes, apoptosis, selective targe

Computational studies of potential antiviral compounds from some selected Nigerian medicinal plants against SARS-CoV-2 proteins

The challenges posed by COVID-19's emergence have led to a search for its therapies. There is no cure for COVID-19 infection yet, but there is significant progress in vaccine formulation for prophylaxis and drug development (such as Paxlovid) for high-risk patients. As a contribution to the ongoing quest for solutions, this study shows potent phytocompounds identification as inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 targets using in silico methods. We used virtual screening, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the interaction of some phytochemicals with 3CLpro, ACE2, and PLpro proteins crucial to the SARS-CoV-2 viral cycle. The predicted docking scores range from −5.5 to −9.4 kcal/mol, denoting appreciable binding of these compounds to the SARS-CoV-2 proteins and presenting a multitarget inhibition for COVID-19. Some phytocompounds interact favorably at non-active sites of the enzymes. For instance, MD simulation shows that an identified site on PLpro is stable and likely an allosteric region for inhibitor binding and modulation. These phytocompounds could be developed into effective therapy against COVID-19 and probed as potential multitarget-directed ligands and drug candidates against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The study unveils drug repurposing, selectivity, allosteric site targeting, and multitarget-directed ligand in one piece. These concepts are three distinct approaches in the drug design and discovery pipeline