Incidence of Anaemia Due To Hookworm Infestation in Patients Attending Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Kano, Nigeria

A study on the incidence of anaemia due to hookworm infestation was carried out among patients attending Murtala Muhanmmad Specialist Hospital in Kano metropolis between December 2010 and January 2011. Out of the 200 stool samples examined by formol-ether concentration technique, only 1 (0.5%) was found to be positive for the hookworm infection and the anaemia status of the positive patient was negative as determined using haematocrit technique. Therefore, this study presented a very low incidence of the infection and the anaemic status obtained from the hookworm positive patient showed that the infection is not severe. The reason for the low incidence of the hookworm infection in this study could be attributed to strict personal and community hygiene, improved sanitary conditions, better awareness, proper disposal of sewage and less availability of breeding habitats for the hookworm larvae in the area. Therefore, more emphasis should be laid on personal and community hygiene in order to remain healthy and free from this kind of infection among other measures.Keywords: Anaemia, hookworm, hospital, community hygien

Does antenatal care attendance prevent anemia in pregnancy at term?

Background: Anemia in pregnancy is one of the public health problems in the developed and developing world. If uncontrolled it is a major indirect cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. This is worst in settings with poor prenatal practices. Quality prenatal interventions therefore are expected to prevent or ameliorate this disorder in pregnancy. Nigerian scientific literatures are full of data on anemia in pregnancy, but few of them are on the influence of prenatal care on maternal anemia. This study, therefore, sought to appraise the role of antenatal care (ANC) services in the prevention of anemia in pregnancy at term in Nigerian women.Objectives: The aim was to estimate the prevalence of anemia at first antenatal visit and determine if antenatal attendance prevents anemia at term among prenatal Nigerian women. To measure the hematocrit levels at booking and at term respectively and compare the proportion anemic at booking with the proportion anemic at term.Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross‑sectional comparative study of 3442 prenatal women in a mission hospital in South‑South Nigeria from 2009 to 2013. Venous blood hematocrit was estimated from each woman at booking and at term, and the prevalence of anemia for the two periods were compared.Results: There were 1205 subjects with hematocrit of below 33% at booking, an anemia prevalence of 32.2% at booking in this population. At term or delivery at term 736 (21.4% odds ratio [OR] =2.3, P < 0.0001) of the 1052 subjects that fulfilled the study criteria had their anemia corrected, a 69.9% prevention, while 316 (9.2%, OR = 0.43, P < 0.0001) persisted despite their antenatal attendance. The subjects were similar in most of the confounding factors like parity, social class, mean age, body mass index and gestational age at delivery (P value: all > 0.05).Conclusion: The prevalence of anemia in pregnancy is still high in our setting. Quality ANC appeared a valuable preventive intervention that should be made widely available, accessible and affordable to all pregnant women.Key words: Antenatal care, anemia prevention, South‑South Nigeria, term pregnanc

Therapeutic role of glucogalactan polysaccharide extracted from Agaricus bisporus on trimethyltin chloride induced neuropathy in rats

Trimethyltin (TMT) chloride induces limbic system neuro-degeneration, resulting in behavioral alterations like cognitive deficits. This study investigates the effect of glucogalactan polysaccharide (GA) extract, which was purified from the roots of Agaricus bisporus mushroom, on trimethyltin chloride (TMT) induced neuropathy in rats. Adult male rats (200 ±10 g) were divided into four groups that were fed with basal diet throughout the experiment (28 days). The first group (G I) was control group, the second group (GII) was treated with 300 mg/kg BW GA intraperitoneally (i.p.) daily for 28 day. The third group (GIII) was administered i.p. with 8.0 mg TMT /kg body weight (BW), and the fourth (G IV) was treated like the third group and was injected with GA 300 mg/kg BW daily for 28 day after 48 h of TMT. Many bioactive compounds, which were found in GA did not cause any changes in the second group compared to normal control group. The results reveal that GA given 48 h after TMT treatment has excellent neuropathy effect, lowers the average of MDA, HSP70, homocystein and the neurotransmitters in brain tissue homogenate; they were markedly reduced by the administration of GA to almost normal levels. Neurotransmitters and nitric oxide were significantly increased in the group given GA treatment compared to TMT group. The comet assay for DNA revealed that, TMT induced statistically significant (P<0.05) increase in the mean value of the tail length and tail moment of the rats. They significantly decreased after GA treatment, suggesting alleviated oxidative stress mediated by TMT. GA administered TMT-treated rats had improved brain histology, diminished level of MDA and nitric oxide (NO) in brain tissue and enhanced total antioxidant capacity in serum compared to TMT group. It could be concluded that GA plays a positive role in the improvement of brain function after TMT-induced neuropathy. Taken together, our results suggest that GA will be useful in developing strategies for protecting nervous system and improving the brain.Keywords: Trimethyltin, neuro-degeneration, Agaricusbisporus, glucogalactan

Preliminary Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Activities of Some Medicinal Plants Used In Ebiraland

Dried leaves of Abrus precatorius, Desmodium ramosissimum, Scoparia dulcis and aerial parts of Phyllanthus amarus used in folkloric medicine of Ebiraland were extracted with hexane, methanol and water sequentially using soxhlet apparatus. The extracts were screened for antimicrobial activities against Bacillus subtilis, E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans using the agar-cup diffusion protocol. All the extracts except the hexane extract of Abrus precatorius were active against at least two of the test microorganisms at the highest concentration of 100 mg/ml used in this study. The aqueous and methanolic extracts of Phyllanthus amarus were active against all the test microorganisms. The methanolic extract of Phyllanthus amarus also showed a broad spectrum of activity with a minimum inhibitory concentration (M.I.C.) of 1.56 mg/ml against all the test microorganisms. The extracts were also screened for secondary metabolites and the result indicated the presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins and terpenoids. The results of this investigation, appears to justify the ethnomedicinal uses of these plants for the traditional treatment of infectious diseases. However, further investigation is required to obtain more information on their antimicrobial potentials and also to isolate their bioactive compounds. Keywords: Medicinal plants, antimicrobial activity, minimum inhibitory concentration, phytochemical screening

To fight or fly: Law Brothers auto accessories

This case describes the stiff competition faced by Law Brothers, a pioneer in the car accessories industry. The negative financial result during the past few years had forced the company to struggle for possible solutions. The company had to consider alternative ways to grow the business, diversify or merge with the other players to remain relevant in the industry. This case is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in strategic management, entrepreneurship and marketing

Comparative studies on Khaya. A. Juss (Meliaceae) in Nigeria

Comparative phytochemical, microscopical and chemomicroscopical studies were carried out on the genus Khaya with the aim of obtaining useful characters for the identification and delimitation of species boundaries. Tannins and saponins were present in all the species while phenols were detected in all except K. grandifoliola. Protein and anthraquinones were present in the bark of all the species. Carbohydrate is present in all the species except in the bark of K. ivoriensis. Flavonoids and phlobatannins were absent in all the taxa. Microscopical examination of the powdered bark revealed different types and shapes of lignified sclereids, abundant distribution of prismatic calcium oxalate crystals, druses, lignified cork-cells, fibres, medullary rays and parenchyma cells which may contain starch grain

EEG changes and neuroimaging abnormalities in relevance to severity of autism

Background: Autism is currently viewed as a genetically determined neurodevelopmental disorder although its defi nite underlying etiology remains to be established.Aim of the Study: Our purpose was to assess autism related morphologicalneuroimaging changes of the brain and EEG abnormalities in correlation to the degree of disease severity.Patients and Methods: Seventeen cases with classic autism, 13 males and 4 females were included in the study. Severity of the disease was assessed both clinically and by Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). MRI changes and EEG abnormalities were detected in seven patients, mostly severely and moderately affected.Results: Hypoplasia of cerebellar vermian lobules is the most replicated MRI abnormality in our patients (18%). Periventricular white matter dysmyelination is detected in 12% of studied cases. 29% of the cases have EEG abnormalities. Head circumference above 97th centiles is detected in 18% of cases. The increased head circumference, when in combination with EEG abnormalities, positively correlates with the degree of disease severity. Conclusion: Although, no defi nite correlation could be established between the studied parameters and disease severity, most patients in the present study who exhibited MRI abnormality, EEG changes and/or increased head circumference (H.C) manifested severe form of autism. The absence of correlation may be attributed to lack of statistical power, resulting from small sample size. However, the correlation was not solidly excluded therefore, the recommendation of further neuroradiological evaluation as well as the implementation ofnewer techniques, might help future elucidating the etiology of autism.Keywords: Autism, MRI, EEG, brain development

Genetic diversity for nutritional traits in the leaves of baobab, Adansonia digitata

Genetic divergence of baobab (Adansonia digitata) in the North East and West of Nigeria was investigated. The seeds collected from 36 populations of Adansonia digitata were thoroughly washed from the pulp, dried and sown in polyethylene pots and arranged in completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications in the nursery of Savanna Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, (FRIN), Zaria Station. The leaves of the seedlings were assessed at 16 weeks after sowing (WAS) for nutritional traits such as carbohydrate, crude protein, fat, moisture content, fiber and ash. Highly significant differences were observed in all the traits assessed showing that high variability exists among the populations. Mean separation and comparisons were also consistent with the observed variability in allthe traits of the genotypes in the 36 populations. Mahalanobis D2 statistic and wards minimum variance grouped the 36 populations into four clusters: I (25), II (3), III (7) and IV (1). Clusters IV and I had the highest inter-clusters value and intra-cluster distance. Clusters II and I had the least values of D2 and √D2 of the inter cluster and intra cluster distance. Furthermore, cluster I had the highest population (25) and cluster IV was observed to be an isolated cluster with only one population and 0 intra-cluster values. Crosses can be made among the genetically divergent populations of baobab to develop genotypes for higher nutritional quality in the leaves as well as withstand both biotic and abiotic stress arising from the environment.Keywords: Adansonia digitata, Genetic variability, diversity, populations, and clustersAfrican Journal of Biotechnology, Vol. 13(2), pp. 301-306, 8 January, 201

Prevalence of hydatid cyst in camels slaughtered at Katsina metropolitan abattoir, Katsina State, Nigeria

Cystic Echinococcosis, among other food animal zoonotic diseases, heralds a significant zoonotic threat to meat consumers due to the lack of stringent meat inspection policies and poor awareness of zoonoses by most livestock traders/butchers. Therefore, this study is aimed at determining the prevalence of hydatid cysts in camels slaughtered at katsina metropolitan abattoir, Katsina State, Nigeria. A total of 392 samples were collected over three months (November 2019 to January 2020), of which 129 samples were from males and 263 from females. Information about the age, sex and body condition of the slaughtered camels were recorded. The carcass of each camel was inspected carefully for the presence of Hydatid cysts, the organs infected, and the number of cysts present. The data were subjected to statistical analysis using the Chi-square test (χ2), and significant levels were determined at p<0.05 level for all the data, which revealed an overall prevalence of 14.0% (55/392). The prevalence rate of Hydatid cysts was 16.3% in females and 9.3% in males, while it is 16.8 and 5.3% in adult and young camels, respectively. We recommend a holistic epidemiological study on the prevalence of hydatid cysts in camels and more public enlightenment for effective control measures against the disease in Katsina State

Puerperal Superior Sagittal Sinus Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Superior sagittal sinus thrombosis is a rare and often misdiagnosed disorder. Its occurrence with pulmonary embolism (PE) is much rarer, more so when it occurs in the setting of puerperium. Although cerebral sagittal sinus thrombosis can occur at any time during life, women are particularly vulnerable before delivery and during the puerperal period due to the hypercoagulable state of pregnancy. We report a case which describes the challenging clinical course of a young woman who developed superior sagittal sinus thrombosis and PE during puerperium.Keywords: Embolism, puerperium, pulmonary, sagittal sinus, thrombosi