Moringa oleifera Lam extract attenuates gastric ulcerations in high salt loaded rats

Moringa oleifera Lam is a plant used extensively both in traditional and orthodox medicine to treat myriad ailments, including gastrointestinal disorders. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of leaf extract of M. oleifera some gastrointestinal function parameters in high salt loaded rats. Acute toxicity study was done using 70 male white mice (18-20 g) were used for the study. They were randomly selected and assigned to 7 cages of 10 animals per cage. Percentage mortalities were converted to probits and plotted against the log10 of the dose of the extract from which the LD50 value was calculated. Fresh leaf extract of M. oleifera was Soxhlet extracted. 24 albino Wistar rats were randomly assigned into 4 main groups of 6 rats each. Fed on normal rat chow, high salt (8% NaCl) diet + 1% NaCl drinking water and/or M. oleifera extract (600 mg/kg bw). The feeding regimens lasted for 42 days. Results obtained revealed that the extract had an LD50 value of 1,872.22 mg/kg from which a test dose of 600 mg/kg was derived for the feeding regimen. The salt fed rats had significantly (p<005) raised basal gastric acid output (9.03 ± 0.17 mmol/L/hr) compared with control (7.27 ± 0.17 mmol/L/hr), but had blunted response to administered histamine and cimetidine, while treatment with the extract enhanced the sensitivity of histamine in high salt loaded rats. Gastric mucus concentration was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the salt untreated group (0.25 ± 0.004 g) compared with other groups. The salt fed untreated group also had significantly (p<0.05) raised gastric ulcers (10.83 ± 0.70) compared with other groups, these were reversed following Moringa treatment. In conclusion, Moringa oleifera extract reverses gastric ulcers and blunted histaminergic receptors in high salt fed rats. The mechanism by which high salt increases gastric secretion is independent of the histaminergic mechanism

Alteration in biochemical indices following administration of seafood (Thais coronata) extract

Seafood consumption has been a way of life to most people especially those that leave in riverine areas, because seafoods are known to contain many nutrients that are essential for healthy living. Consequently, this research therefore seeks to investigate the effect of these nutritive components of Thais coronata on biochemical indices of albino Wistar rats. Fourty five male albino Wister rats weighing between 180-220 g were assigned into 3 groups of fifteen rats each in metabolic cages and were given rat feed and drinking water ad libitum. Two test doses (low dose 7.0 mg protein/ml and&nbsp; high dose 52 mg protein/ml) were selected&nbsp; and&nbsp; administered&nbsp; to&nbsp; two&nbsp; groups&nbsp; of&nbsp; rats&nbsp; orally&nbsp; and&nbsp; daily&nbsp; for&nbsp; six&nbsp; weeks,&nbsp; while&nbsp; a third group of rats served as the control, n = 15. At the expiration of the feeding period, blood samples were obtained from all the rats via cardiac puncture for the analysis of the various biochemical indices. Both the low and high doses of the extract produced significant increases in HDLc (P&lt;0.001) compared with control. k (P&lt;0.001), HCO3- (P&lt;0.01) and Ca2+ (P&lt;0.001) were also significantly increased in the&nbsp; extract treated groups. The extract groups had significant reductions in ALT (P&lt;0.001), ALP (P&lt;0.001), Na+ (P&lt;0.001) and Cl- (P&lt;0.001) compared with control. Also Tc (P&lt;0.001), TG (P&lt;0.001), LDL (P&lt;0.001) and VLDLc (P&lt;0.001) were significantly decreased in the extract treated group. In conclusion seafood consumption is of immense benefit to health because it serves to regulate the lipid profile, electrolytes and enzyme concentrations in blood. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.58078

Citrus Sinensis separately increases Serum Plasma Proteins while its combination treatment with Carbimazole reduces-the thyroid hormones connection

Plasma proteins play a vital role in the bioavailability and by implication, the activity of thyroid hormones. This study therefore became expedient in order to investigate the effect of Citrus sinensis on serum plasma proteins in comparison with standard thyro-active drugs. Albino wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups of 7 rats each. Group I served as control, group II received 1500mg/kg of fresh orange juice (FOJ), group III received 0.1ug/g of Levothyroxine (LVT), group IV received 0.01mg/kg of Carbimazole (CARB) and group V received FOJ (1500mg/kg)+ CARB (0.01mg/g) once daily per oral for 28 days. The animals were sacrificed after a night fast and blood samples obtained by cardiac puncture and processed by standard procedure to obtain the serum which was used for plasma protein analysis. The results showed that FOJ and LVT significantly (p<0.05) increased total protein, albumin and globulin levels while FOJ+CARB significantly (p<0.05) decreased them. It appears that the separate effect of Citrus sinensis and LVT on plasma protein is unrelated to their effect on thyroid hormone levels. The combination treatment appears to synergistically potentiate their antithyroid effect irrespective of the singular effect of Citrus sinensis on plasma proteins. Thus, there may be need for caution on the excessive consumption of Citrus sinensis during treatment with Carbimazole Keywords Citrus Sinensis, Carbimazole, Levothyroxine, Thyro-Active Drugs, Plasma Protein

Global variation in diabetes diagnosis and prevalence based on fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but these measurements can identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and detected as having diabetes in survey screening, had elevated FPG, HbA1c or both. We developed prediction equations for estimating the probability that a person without previously diagnosed diabetes, and at a specific level of FPG, had elevated HbA1c, and vice versa. The age-standardized proportion of diabetes that was previously undiagnosed and detected in survey screening ranged from 30% in the high-income western region to 66% in south Asia. Among those with screen-detected diabetes with either test, the age-standardized proportion who had elevated levels of both FPG and HbA1c was 29-39% across regions; the remainder had discordant elevation of FPG or HbA1c. In most low- and middle-income regions, isolated elevated HbA1c was more common than isolated elevated FPG. In these regions, the use of FPG alone may delay diabetes diagnosis and underestimate diabetes prevalence. Our prediction equations help allocate finite resources for measuring HbA1c to reduce the global shortfall in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI &lt;18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For school&#x2;aged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI &lt;2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI &gt;2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit

Global variations in diabetes mellitus based on fasting glucose and haemogloblin A1c

Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but may identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and detected as having diabetes in survey screening had elevated FPG, HbA1c, or both. We developed prediction equations for estimating the probability that a person without previously diagnosed diabetes, and at a specific level of FPG, had elevated HbA1c, and vice versa. The age-standardised proportion of diabetes that was previously undiagnosed, and detected in survey screening, ranged from 30% in the high-income western region to 66% in south Asia. Among those with screen-detected diabetes with either test, the agestandardised proportion who had elevated levels of both FPG and HbA1c was 29-39% across regions; the remainder had discordant elevation of FPG or HbA1c. In most low- and middle-income regions, isolated elevated HbA1c more common than isolated elevated FPG. In these regions, the use of FPG alone may delay diabetes diagnosis and underestimate diabetes prevalence. Our prediction equations help allocate finite resources for measuring HbA1c to reduce the global gap in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance.peer-reviewe

An Empirical Evaluation of the Role of Information and Communication Technology in Advancement of Teaching and Learning

This work reports an investigation into the role of Information and Communication Technology in promoting efficiency in teaching, using Federal University Lafia as a case study. The University is amongst the 9 newly created federal universities in Nigeria. Research questions and hypothesis were developed and used as a guide in the study. Data was collected via a questionnaire. The collated data were analysed using mean and standard deviation, while T-test was used in testing the hypothesis proposed for the study. The results from the sample survey of fifty (50) lecturers show that Information and Communication Technology plays a vital role in promoting efficiency in the teaching process. The T-test analysis show no significant difference between the opinions of Male and Female lecturers for most items that were considered in the course of the stud

Energy neutral protocol based on hierarchical routing techniques for energy harvesting wireless sensor network

Recently, researchers in the field of wireless sensor networks have resorted to energy harvesting techniques that allows energy to be harvested from the ambient environment to power sensor nodes. Using such Energy harvesting techniques together with proper routing protocols, an Energy Neutral state can be achieved so that sensor nodes can run perpetually. In this paper, we propose an Energy Neutral LEACH routing protocol which is an extension to the traditional LEACH protocol. The goal of the proposed protocol is to use Gateway node in each cluster so as to reduce the data transmission ranges of cluster head nodes. Simulation results show that the proposed routing protocol achieves a higher throughput and ensure the energy neutral status of the entire network

Quercetin and Omega-3 fatty acid averts the deleterious effects of Cadmium on NO, NOS, anti-oxidants and MDA levels in rats

Cadmium is a ubiquitous heavy metal and a toxic pollutant in the biosphere which has been implicated as one of the factors responsible for infertility. Infertility in animals is one of the most widespread problems with 48.5 million of the world population being infertile. This study aimed to investigate the effects of omega-3 and/or quercetin on cadmium- induced alterations in nitric oxide (NO), nitric oxide synthase (NOS), and anti-oxidants levels. 42 Wistar rats were assigned into 7 groups of 6 rats each and fed for 8 weeks with normal rat feed and drinking water. The treatment groups took either of cadmium chloride, omega-3 fatty acid and/or quercetin. The sham control groups 1 and 2 took olive oil (0/1mL/kg body wt. o.p) and DMSO (1mL/kg body wt. o.p) respectively. Serum was collected for measurement of the biochemical assay. Results obtained showed no significant differences were observed in all the parameters assayed between the sham control groups and the normal control. The LD50 for cadmium was 3.90mg/kg bw. Concentrations of NO, NOS reduced significantly in Cd groups compared with control, omega-3 and/or quercetin groups. SOD, CAT, GPx reduced significantly (p&lt;0.05) while MDA increased significantly in Cd groups compared with control, omega-3 and/or quercetin groups. In conclusion, administration of quercetin or omega-3 ameliorates the adverse effects of Cd on NO, NOS, antioxidants (SOD, CAT, GPx), and MDA levels. A combination of both quercetin and omega-3 produced a better ameliorating effect than when given singly. Keywords: Cadmium, Omega-3, quercetin, NO, NOS, anti-oxidants, MDA, rats