Investigation of some important phytochemical, nutritional properties and toxicological potentials of ethanol extracts of Newbouldia laevis leaf and stem

The pytochemicals, nutritional and toxicological potentials of the ethanol extracts of the leaf and stem of Newbouldia laevis was investigated in this study. The percentage yields of N. laevis ethanol leaf and stem extracts were found to be 7.44 and 3.30% (w/w), respectively. The preliminary phytochemical screening showed that ethanol leaf and stem extracts contains alkaloids, flavonoids and tannins. The quantitative phytochemical analysis showed that the leaf and stem extracts contained respectively: alkaloids (14.74 ± 0.06 and 6.27 ± 0.0 mg/g), flavonoids (15.51 ± 0.04 and 5.18 ± 0.04 mg/g), cardiac glycosides (6.77 ± 0.02 mg/g), tannins (1.74 ± 0.11 mg/g), saponins (4.07 ± 0.06 mg/g), steroids (41.72 ± 0.02 mg/g) and terpenoids (8.67 ± 0.09 mg/g). The following amounts of vitamins and minerals were found in the leave and stem-bark extracts, respectively; vitamin A (5.19 ± 0.00 and 3.01 ± 0.00 mg/100 g), vitamin C (2.35 ± 0.55 and 1.05 ± 0.08 mg/100 g) and vitamin E (9.33 ± 0.02 and 4.08 ± 0.11 mg/100 g); minerals: Mg (76.12 ± 0.04 and 54.25 ± 0.04 mg/100 g), Fe (16.84 ± 0.06 and 1.19 ± 0.03 mg/100 g) and Se (3.08 ± 0.03 and 0.29 ± 0.07 mg/100 g). The acute toxicity test of the ethanol leaf and stem extracts showed no toxicity up to 5000 mg/kg body weight.Keywords: Newbouldia laevis, phytochemical properties, vitamins, minerals, toxicityAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(40), pp. 5941-594

HYPOGLYCAEMIC AND HAEMATINIC PROPERTIES OF ETHANOL LEAF EXTRACT OF ARTOCARPUS HETEROPHYLLUS IN ALLOXAN INDUCED DIABETIC RATS.

Background: Anaemia is known to be associated with diabetes; moreover, with the increasing cases of diabetes there is need for the use of more affordable alternative herbal medicines for the treatment of diabetes and anaemia. The aim of this work was to evaluate the hypoglycaemic and haematinic properties of Artocarpus heteropyllus on diabetic rats. Materials and Methods: Ethanol leaf extract of Artocarpus heteropyllus was screened for phytochemicals and its acute toxicity was tested on mice. Induction of diabetes was done at a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight (b.w) (with exception of the control group). The extract was administered to rats for a period of 7 days at 100, 300 and 500 mg/kg b.w, respectively, following induction. Blood samples of rats were tested for fasting blood sugar (FBS), packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), haemoglobin, neutrophil lymphocyte and eosinophil counts. Results: The ethanol leaf extract of A. heterophyllus showed no mortality up to a dose of 5000 mg/kg b.w. Administration of the extract to diabetic rats resulted in a decrease in the FBS of diabetic rat, and significant increases (p< 0.05) in RBC, PCV, WBC and haemoglobin levels. Conclusion: The ethanol leaf extract of A. heterophyllus increased the haematological indices of diabetic rats. Our findings support the use of this plant as an herbal alternative in the treatment of diabetes and anaemia associated diabetes

Characterization and fatty acid profile analysis of oil extracted from unexploited seed of African star apple (

This study sought to characterize the phyto-oil extracted from an unexploited seed of African star apple (Udara) using soxhlet extraction method, normal hexane was used as the solvent at 67 °C for 4 h. The percentage oil yield was 23.8%. The extracted oil was liquid at room temperature, pleasant sweet smell with honey-like colour. The oil physicochemical properties such as acid value, peroxide value and saponification value were 17.41 ± 0.43 mg/KOH/g, 57.74 ± 2.77 meq/kg−1 and 236.341 ± 6.80 mg/KOH/g, respectively. Also, free fatty acid of 8.75% and iodine value of 29 ± 0.16 mg/100g were obtained. The identified fatty acids present included n-hexadecanoic acid (7.55%), 13-hexyloxacyctri-dec-10-en-2-one (1.19%), oleic acids (30.21%), octadecanoic acid (5.28%), hexadecanoic acid (2.37%), undecylenic acid (40.33%), 9-octadecanal (7.09%), and 9, 17-octadecadienal (5.98%). The properties of oil extracted revealed that the seed is a good source of oil which could be employed for industrial purposes

The Impacts of Anti-Inflammatory Agents on COVID-19 Cytokine Storm

The re-emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 A(SARS-CoV-2) in Wuhan, China, has placed an unprecedented economic and health burden globally. The SARS-CoV-2 high mortality rate has brought great challenges to researchers, clinicians, and health workers in their bid to discover appropriate therapeutic interventions. The search for the ultimate remedy was initially centered on the use of antiviral agents targeting receptors and proteins involved in the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2. However, the upsurge of interest in repurposing anti-inflammatory agents was born out of the reported risks posed by a cytokine storm on COVID-19-induced fatality. A cytokine storm, as a result of the unregulated production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and other chemical mediators, triggers coagulopathy, viral sepsis, pneumonitis shock, and acute respiratory syndrome, which may lead directly to respiratory and organ failure and ultimately the death of the patient. The overwhelming evidence has shown that the early prediction of cytokine storm using serum chemistry and hematological markers and the use of appropriate anti-inflammatory agents will avert COVID-19 complications. These include the use of repurposed interferon (IFN) therapy and inhibitors of interleukin-1 (IL-1&beta;), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-&alpha;), and Janus kinase (JAKs) to nip the cytokine storm in the bud. This review critically used information retrieved from PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Embase, Medline, and Google Scholar to elaborate on the mechanism and complications of COVID-19 cytokine storm, therapeutic interventions, and the way forward to discovering effective biocompatible drug targets

Bioassay-guided identification of potential Alzheimer’s disease therapeutic agents from Kaempferol-Enriched fraction of Aframomum melegueta seeds using in vitro and chemoinformatics approaches

Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become a major public health concern and the fifth major cause of death among the aging population globally. In this study, the total phenols and flavonoids contents (TPC and TFC) and in vitro antioxidant actions of the methanol extract and the various fractions of Aframomum melegueta were evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, nitric oxide scavenging activity (NO), lipid peroxidation (TBARS) activity and ferric reducing power assay (FRAP). Furthermore, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitory activities of the two most potent fractions were investigated, and the phytochemicals identified in the ethyl acetate fraction, which had the best antioxidant and cholinesterase inhibitory effects were subjected to chemoinformatics studies. The extract and its fraction had high amounts of TPC and TFC. The ethyl acetate fraction exerted the best DPPH, NO, TBARS, and FRAP inhibition with IC50 values of 5.06, 6.58, 2.12, and 88.73 µg/mL, respectively. Interestingly, n-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions inhibited AChE (IC5016.83 and 11.67 µg/mL) and BuChE (IC50 7.54 and 5.21 µg/mL) enzymatic activities more than the standard inhibitor, rivastigmine which had 11.99 and 11.40 µg/mL IC50 values, respectively. A total of 18 compounds were identified in ethyl acetate fraction, and kaempferol was the major component, with 40.01 µg/g (30%). More strikingly, the top-scoring compounds (catechin, and kaempferol) exhibited good binding affinity, and interacted favorably with amino acids residues around and within the active sites of AChE and BuChE and also obeyed drug-likeness rules, and did not show a tendency towards toxicity when placed side by side with rivastigmine which is immunogenic. Thus, A. melegueta seeds contain safe bioactive chemicals, which could be a veritable remedy for managing Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases