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Research Article
Apr 06, 2012
Antioxidant and anti-hyperglycemic potential of pulp extracts of Irvingia wombolu fruits
The present study aimed at evaluating the in vitro antioxidant and in vivo anti-hyperglycemic potential of pulp extracts of Irvingia wombolu fruits on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. After phytochemical screening, aqueous and hydroethanolic extracts of I. wombolu were analysed for polyphenol content. Antioxidant activity was assessed using three methods. The capacity of the extracts to scavenge hydroxyl radical and to chelate metal was also evaluated. Diabetes was induced in 25 rats by intravenous administration of streptozotocin (50mg/kg body weight). The effect of the extracts on blood glucose levels of diabetic rats was monitored at various time intervals for 5h after administration of the extract (first single dose of 400 mg/kg/day). In addition, total cholesterol (TC), HDL cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), MDA, hydroperoxides and plasma antioxidant capacity was determined after a three-week period. The aqueous extract showed the higher polyphenol content while the hydroethanolic extract had the best in vitro antioxidant capacity. Glucose levels of treated diabetic rats significantly decreased 3h after administration of extracts (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in TC, HDL and LDL cholesterol between diabetic control and treated diabetic rats. In contrast, extracts significantly reduced triglyceride. Treatment with extracts significantly reduced atherogenic risk predictor indices. Plant extracts significantly reduced MDA and hydroperoxide levels. Antioxidant capacity of blood plasma significantly increased after administration of aqueous extract. This study suggests that I. wombolu pulp not only could be a good source of antioxidants, but might also have glucose lowering property, with the best in vivo activity attributed to aqueous extract.
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Research Article
Apr 06, 2012
Effects of chronic administration of efavirenz on DNA of the intracranial visual relay centers of ... adult Wistar rats
The effects of chronic administration of efavirenz commonly used as part of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) for the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) type-1 therapy on the DNA of the intracranial visual relay centre namely the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate body of adult Wistar rats were carefully studied. The rats of both sexes (n=20), with an average weight of 200g were randomly assigned into treatment (n=10) and control (n=10) groups. The rats in the treatment group received 600mg/70kg bogy weight of efavirenz dissolved in distilled water daily for 30 days through the orogastric tube. The control group received equal volume of distilled water daily for 30 days through the same route. The rats were fed with grower’s mash obtained from Edo Feeds and Flour Mill Limited, Ewu, Edo State, Nigeria and given water liberally. The rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocation method on the thirty-first day of the experiment. The superior colliculus and lateral geniculate body were carefully dissected out and quickly fixed in 10% formal saline for histochemical study. The histochemical findings indicated that the treatment sections of the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate body showed less intense staining and appeared pachychromatic. The stained neurons and glia cells were few as compared to the control sections. There were observations of neuronal enlargement in the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate body of the treated sections. The superior colliculus of the treated rats showed evidence of hypertrophy and microcytic changes in the darkly stained DNA positive granules, while the treated section of the lateral geniculate body showed positively stained DNA granules of various sizes and shapes, with an indication of hypertrophy and microcytic changes as compared to the control group. Chronic administration of efavirenz may therefore have an adverse effect on the DNA of the superior colliculus and lateral geniculate body of adult Wistar rats. It is recommended that further studies aimed at corroborating these observations be carried out.
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Research Article
Apr 06, 2012
Toxicological studies of Astavarga Kvatha Curna, an Ayurvedic formulation, on liver function param ... eters of rat plasma
Astavarga Kvatha Curna (AST) approved by the National Unani and Ayurvedic Formulary Committee of Bangladesh is widely used in the treatment of vata roga (neurological disorder) by the rural and ethnic people of this country. In the present study, the effect of this formulation on liver function parameters of rat plasma was examined after chronic administration. The animal used was albino rat (Rattus novergicus: Sprague-Dawley strains) and the drug was administered per oral route at a dose of 40 ml/kg body weight, once daily, up to 41 days for all the experiments. Forty rats, equally of both sexes, were randomly grouped into four where one male and one female group were used as control and other groups were used as test. In both male and female rats, there was a statistically significant increase in the total protein (male, p=0.044*, female, p=0.043)*. In case of albumin, the increase in the male rats were statistically significant (p=0.003)** but it was statistically highly significant (p=0.001)*** in the female rats. In case of sGOT, sGPT and ALP, there was a statistically highly significant (p=0.001)*** increase in both male and female rats. The level of bilirubin was decreased in both male and female rats and it was statistically highly significant (p=0.001)***.
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Research Article
Apr 06, 2012
Diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis by smear microscopy and culture in a tertiary health care faci ... lity
Smear microscopy and culture forms the backbone of tuberculosis (TB) laboratory investigations in tertiary healthcare facilities which have a large number of cases and financial constraints. The present study aimed to re-evaluate the efficiency of smear microscopy and culture on Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) medium for acid fast bacilli (AFB) isolated from patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. 210 samples were processed for detection of AFB by Ziehl Neelsen (ZN) staining. Concentration method of N-acetly-L-cystein-NaOH was used and the samples were isolated on LJ medium. AFB was seen in 168 (80.0%) primary smear samples. The primary smear missed 5 (11.9%) samples that were detected by secondary smear (Sensitivity 93.45%, Specificity 88.10%, Positive predictive value (PPV) 96.91% and Negative Predictive value (NPV) 77.08%). Growth was observed in 155 (83.30%) samples (Sensitivity 95.39%, Specificity 70.59%, PPV 93.55%and NPV 77.42%). The values were statistically significant. The present study reconfirms the efficiency of conventional ZN staining method and culture on LJ medium in the detection of AFB in sputum samples of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.
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Research Article
Apr 06, 2012
Clusters of CDK2, CCND1, and CMYC genes involved in cancers: Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) as a ... model
Cancer is not a single disease but it involves changes in multifunctional genes, the causes for these changes remain less understood. It is now becoming clear that multiple genes orchestrate to turn on the carcinogenesis process. These genes involve several signaling pathways which then characterize uncontrolled cell divisions. Our aim was to study cell cycle genes CDK2, CCND1, and c-MYC to determine their clustering in the evolutionary pathway and to understand their diversions leading to continued cell division processes. Since Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) is the most prevalent form of cancer in children we took this as a model for analyzing the role of these genes in the leukemia process. The prevalence/spread of these genes was found to be very limited in the animal kingdom; hence the question is whether this may be due to the fact that during evolution in time there could have been loss of some functions or mutations in these genes which relates to the switch function of these genes. Alternatively, have they evolved in a way which we are unable to trace due to limited methodology? Further, with the results analyzed so far we can imagine that these species in which we found the presence of these genes across the animal kingdom could have had cancer like diseases during their lifetime. We conclude that each of these genes formed several clusters which were typical of their role/functions in ALL.
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Research Article
Apr 06, 2012
Bioremediation technology: A new horizon for environmental cleanup
The hazardous wastes generated from the chemical processes/operations are being treated using physicochemical and biological methods by the respective industries to meet the prescribed standard as per the Environmental Protection Act, 1986. The wastes treated by the respective industries are collected at Common Effluent Treatment Plant, before discharge into the environment. After the treatment of collected waste at Common Effluent Treatment Plant, the solid and treated effluents are segregated and disposed of into the soilwater environment. In spite of the present treatment technology, the organic pollutants are found persisting in the soil-water environment above their acceptable level. Hence, bioremediation is an innovative technology that has the potential to alleviate the toxic contamination. The processes of bioremediation usually occur in soil/water environment, whereby compounds are broken down into less toxic compounds and/or environmental friendly compounds by microorganisms. In this paper, the bioremediation techniques proved effective and efficient for remediation of pollutants using designed and developed laboratory bioreactors have been highlighted so as to take-up the bioremediation technology from laboratory to field to clean up the environment.
