ABSTRACT The seed of Nigella sativa was evaluated for its chemical composition, medicinal as well as its nutritional values. The powdered seed was extracted with methanol to give the crude extract. Phytochemical screening of the crude extract revealed the presence of the following classes of natural products; alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, saponins and anthraquinones, sterols and terpenes. The proximate analysis showed 12.00% moisture, ash content 3.00%, ether soluble extract 33.30% crude p...
ABSTRACT Eukaryotic pathogens are responsible for several serious human diseases, however, most drugs used as treatment regimens are ineffective while others still in use are toxic. This study seeks to identify bioactive molecules from wood decay fungal (WDF) extracts with activity against eukaryotic pathogens (especially Candida albicans and Plasmodium falciparum). The Saccharomyces cerevisiae model organism for eukaryotic cell biology studies is extensively used to screen bioactive molecul...
ABSTRACT The trade in traditional aphrodisiacs on the street of Nigeria is at all-time high. Several types are on display or advertised by vendors. One of such is Calotropis procera. The aphrodisiac potential of Calotropis procera aqueous stem extract was investigated on some reproductive markers in matured sexually active male albino rats. Phytochemical screening was performed following standard protocols, the mineral composition determination was also carried out using standard method. A to...
ABSTRACT A study was conducted along the Great Ruaha River (GRR) at Ruaha National Park (RNP) for a period of two months (November to December 2013) with the main aim of assessing the effects of Hippopotamus amphibious vectored subsidies on the chemistry of river ecosystems and the ecology of aquatic resident within these systems. The study was done by measuring river water nutrients, physical water chemistry parameters, and stable isotope analysis of aquatic consumers. Study sites were iden...
ABSTRACT Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) causes an acute and highly contagious immunosuppressive disease in young chickens aged 3 to 6 weeks. The molecular epidemiology of IBD virus causing severe disease in chickens in Tanzania has not been consistently studied. A cross-sectional study that involved collection of bursal of Fabricius from dead chicken following IBD outbreak(s) in Dar es Salaam was conducted. The laboratory analysis of samples was performed by reverse transcription-pol...
ABSTRACT An increasing number of women worldwide are using some form of contraceptive drugs for family planning including combined oral contraceptives (COC). However, the use of COC has been associated with some adverse effects such as anemia and impaired energy metabolism in some users. A cross-sectional study was, therefore, carried out to investigate the effect of vitamin B6 supplementation on plasma glucose tolerance, hemoglobin levels and body weight using experimental mice model. Forty...
ABSTRACT Malaria is a health problem and drug resistance to antimalarial poses a great challenge to its treatment and control. Having a rapid activity against malaria parasites, artemisinins are the front line antimalarials. However, already there are reports on reduced response to artemisinins. Thus it’s important to monitor resistance in malaria risky areas. Merozoite surface protein (MSP) 1 and 2 genotyping has shown difference between isolates from primary and recurrent infections ...
ABSTRACT Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), an edible crop that is renowned out of its growth advantages over other crops, carries cyanide which is potentially poisonous to humans. The threat is intensified by human habit of consuming raw cassava tubers whose toxicological status is not established. Cases and indicators of cyanide poisoning due to cassava consumption are evident in Tanzania, particularly in Kagera and Morogoro regions. This study was launched to quantify cyanide in tubers o...
ABSTRACT Tick-borne pathogens and ticks pose significant problem to livestock production especially cattle production. This causes huge economic decline to livestock farmers in tropic and sub-tropic regions of Africa. The most economically important tick-borne pathogens to the production of bovine include Babesia, Anaplasma, Theileria and Ehrlichia. In Ghana, inadequate data exists on the species and genetic diversity of tick-borne hemoparasites. The current study was conducted to detect and ...
ABSTRACT Destabilization of Lysozyme and chaperone like action of alpha crystallin isolated from goat’s eye lens was investigated at various temperature ranges in phosphate buffer (pH 7.1) solution and dithiothretol (DTT). This was monitored spectrophotometrically at 260nm. The heat and DTT-induced destabilization of lysozyme was prevented by alpha crystallin in a concentration dependent manner. Alpha crystallin like other chaperones, fulfils its chaperone like action in preventing agg...
ABSTRACT Mucuna pruriens is one of the many species of Nigerian medicinal plants which have a long history of use as remedies for various ailments such as diabetes mellitus, diarrhea and Parkinson's disease. In most countries, herbal medicines and related products are introduced into the market without any mandatory safety or toxicological evaluation. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the phyto-constituents of ethanol root extract of Mucuna pruriens, as well as to evalua...
Abstract The differences in chemical composition of natural antioxidants provides challenges at separating, detecting, and quantifying individual non-enzymatic antioxidants in complex food/biological systems. Consequently, the antioxidant capacity is a better approach at assaying beneficial health effects that can result from the combined actions of individual antioxidant species. Antioxidant assay methods are based either on electron transfer (ET) or hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) mechanisms. ...
ABSTRACT Cocoa kombucha (CK) is a new alcoholic beverage developed from cocoa which has many health benefits, so its antioxidant activity and anti-proliferative activity in Jurkat P9 cancer cells were determined and compared to unfermented cocoa and selected standards. The antioxidant activity of CK extract was determined by DPPH assay and total phenolic content, as well as its iron reducing power. The MTT assay was used to determine the anti-proliferative activity of cocoa kombucha. Results ...
ABSTRACT Fermentation of sugared tea with a symbiotic culture of acetic acid bacteria and yeast (tea fungus) yields kombucha tea which is consumed worldwide for its refreshing taste and beneficial effects on human health. It is claimed to prevent various types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, promote liver function, and stimulate the immune system. The antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of tea kombucha and unfermented tea were, therefore, investigated in this study. The cytoto...
ABSTRACT Background: Dengue and malaria are two important mosquito-borne diseases. Together, both diseases are indistinguishable due to similarities in clinical and laboratory characteristics. These similarities have contributed immensely to the overdiagnosis of malaria and the under-recognition of dengue in many countries in subSaharan Africa. No baseline study has yet been conducted in Ghana to estimate the burden of dengue. This study therefore set out to estimate the prevalence of dengue ...