Ethnomedicinal plants are thought to have better prospects of harboring endophytes that produce natural products with pharmacological activities. This study aimed to investigate the antiplasmodial and anticancer properties of secondary metabolites of endophytic fungi from three medicinal plants. The endophytic fungi included Lasiodiplodia theobromae isolated from Cola acuminata, Curvularia lunata Bv4 isolated from Bambusa vulgaris, and Curvularia lunata Eg7 isolated from Elaeis guineensis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFComp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis
October 2022
To determine the antibiotypes and frequency of toxin genes in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP), 281 nasal swab samples were collected from dogs and dog guardians in Abakaliki, Southeastern Nigeria. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was determined by disc diffusion technique while detection of toxin genes was carried out by PCR. Exactly 41 (28.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: COVID-19 was first reported on 31 December 2019 and has so far claimed over 2,000 lives in Nigeria. Through global and national efforts, about 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine was distributed and used in Nigeria from March 2021. Vaccine hesitancy could pose a serious problem for COVID-19 prevention and control.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiosurfactants are applied in drug formulations to improve drug solubility and in some cases, treat diseases. This study is focused on generating, extracting, purifying and then characterizing biosurfactants from bacterial isolates of palm oil wastes and abattoir soil origins. Eight bacteria were isolated from the soil and sludge samples, out of which four (50%) were found to produce biosurfactants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe global incidence of cancer is on the increase and researchers are prospecting for specific and non-selective therapies derived from the immune system. The killer activating receptors of NK cells are known to be involved in immunosurveillance against tumor and virally-infected cells. These receptors belong to two main categories, namely the immunoglobulin like and C-lectin like families.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Exp Gastroenterol
January 2019
Background: To our knowledge, there is no prior randomized study on the utility of Syferol-IHP (blend of virgin coconut oil and oil) when coadministered with a triple therapy schedule.
Aim: This study determined the efficacy and safety of Syferol-IHP as adjunct to conventional triple therapy for the treatment of peptic ulcer disease (PUD).
Methods: A pilot double-blind randomized trial was conducted in patients with confirmed diagnosis (endoscopy-guided biopsy) of PUD.
Pharmacognosy Res
January 2018
Background: () is used by Mbano people of Imo State, Nigeria, for the treatment of various ailments.
Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties of the methanol extract, fractions, and subfractions of .
Materials And Methods: The powdered stem bark was extracted with methanol and sequentially fractionated into n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and butanol fractions.
Introduction: Vaccines are biological products and their efficacy is affected by storage conditions. They are vital in promoting public health. Failures in immunization programmes often times are blamed on disruption in vaccine cold-chain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMosquitoes are vectors of several human pathogens, and great attention has recently been placed on insecticides from plant-derived products, in search for mosquito control agents. This study, thus, investigated the potency of Boswellia dalzielii methanol leaf extract and its four fractions as mosquito ovicide, larvicide, and pupicide against Anopheles gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus. The plant products were tested at the following concentrations: 125, 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 ppm on eggs and 312.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext Alchornea floribunda Müll. Arg. (Euphorbiaceae) leaves are widely used in ethnomedicine for the management of rheumatism, arthritis and toothache.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Arthropod Borne Dis
December 2015
Background: Within the framework to control mosquitoes, ovicidal, larvicidal and pupicidal activity of Annona senegalensis leaf extract and its 4 fractions against Anopheles gambiae and Culex quinquefasciatus were evaluated in the laboratory conditions.
Methods: Ovicidal test was performed by submitting at least 100 eggs of mosquitoes to 125, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 ppm concentrations, while larvicidal and pupicidal effects were assessed by submitting 25 larvae or pupae to the concentrations of 2500, 1250, 625 and 312.5 ppm of plant extract or fractions of A.
As part of on-going efforts to use eco-friendly alternatives to chemical pesticides, methanol crude extracts of Plectranthus glandulosus and Callistemon rigidus leaves were sequentially fractionated in hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol to establish the most active fraction(s) against Callosobruchus maculatus in cowpea. Cowpea seeds (25 g) were treated with 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 g/kg of extract to evaluate the contact toxicity and F1 progeny production of the beetles in the laboratory.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Insect Sci
January 2016
Mosquitoes are the most deadly vectors of parasites that cause diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, and filariasis. In view of the recent increased interest in developing plant origin insecticides as an alternative to chemical insecticides, the objective of this study was to determine the repellent activity of creams formulated with methanol crude extract (MCE), hexane fraction (HF), and ethyl acetate fractions (EAFs) of Ocimum gratissimum and Lantana camara leaves in single and combined actions against female Aedes aegypti. Evaluation was carried out in the net cages (30 by 30 by 30 cm) containing 60 blood-starved female mosquitoes each and were assayed in the laboratory condition following World Health Organization 2009 protocol.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFurther investigation of the methanol leaf extract of Maytenus senegalensis led to the isolation of six compounds, including mayselignoside (1) and an unusual benzoyl malic acid derivative, benzoyl R-(+)-malic acid (2). Two known lignan derivatives (+)-lyoniresinol (3) and (-)-isolariciresinol (4), a known neolignan derivative dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (5) and the triterpenoid, β-amyrin (6) were also isolated. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by a combination of 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectroscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMalaria has a negative impact on health and social and economic life of residents of endemic countries. The ultimate goals of designing new treatment for malaria are to prevent clinical infection, reduce morbidity, and decrease mortality. There are great advances in the understanding of the parasite-host interaction through studies by various scientists.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Available artemisinin-combination therapies (ACTs) are expensive. Various traditional herbal remedies for malaria involve plants, proven scientifically to have antiplasmodial effects, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To formulate gentamicin liposphere by solvent-melting method using lipids and polyethylene glycol 4 000 (PEG-4 000) for oral administration.
Methods: Gentamicin lipospheres were prepared by melt-emulsification using 30% w/w Phospholipon® 90H in Beeswax as the lipid matrix containing PEG-4 000. These lipospheres were characterized by evaluating on encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, change in pH and the release profile.
Column fractionation and purification of an n-hexane fraction led to the isolation of three lupeol-based triterpenoid esters from the leaves of the Eastern Nigeria mistletoe, Loranthus micranthus Linn parasitic on a local kola nut tree, Kola acuminata. These three compounds were adequately characterised using a combination of UV/visible, IR, NMR (¹³C-NMR and ¹H-NMR), DEPT, MS and two-dimensional correlation (H-H COSY, Hetero-nuclear Single Quantum Correlation (HSQC), HMBC, NOE and NOESY) studies as 7β,15α-dihydroxyl-lup-20(29)-ene-3β-esters of palmitic (I), stearic (II) and eicosanoic acids (III). The characterisation of other isolated compounds is ongoing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPharm Biol
December 2011
Context: The Eastern Nigeria mistletoe, Loranthus micranthus Linn. (Loranthaceae), is used in the treatment of several diseases including immune-modifying diseases and thus there is a need to identify the immunoactive constituents.
Objective: This research isolated and characterized the immunoactive constituents in the Eastern Nigeria mistletoe.