Assessing the Oxidative Stress Reducing Potential of Spilanthes filicaulis (Schumach & Thonn) Ethyl-Acetate Sub-fractions on Plasmodium berghei Infected Female Mice.

Purpose: Infections by Plasmodium parasite actuate oxidative stress. As malaria parasite actions overwhelm host antioxidant defense by producing excessive reactive species during haemoglobin degradation. This study aimed to evaluate the oxidative status by considering the antioxidant level of ethyl-acetate sub-fractions of Spilanthes filicaulis (ESSF) extract on Plasmodium berghei NK-65 parasitized mice.

Antimalarial and antioxidant activities of novel artesunate-ellagic acid hybrid compound and .

Emergence of drug resistant strains of species has necessitated the search for novel antimalarials with unique mechanisms of action. Synthesis of hybrid compounds has been one approach to tackling this challenge. In this study, the synthesis of artesunate-ellagic acid hybrid compound (EA31) from ellagic acid and artesunate and its evaluation for antimalarial and antioxidant activities using and models were carried out.

Potentials of Terpenoids as Inhibitors of Multiple Plasmodium falciparum Protein Drug Targets.

Purpose: The resistance of parasite to readily affordable antimalarial drugs, the high cost of currently potent drugs, and the resistance of vector mosquitoes to insecticides threaten the possibility of malaria eradication in malaria endemic areas. Due to the fact that quinine and artemisinin were isolated from plants sources, researchers have been encouraged to search for new antimalarials from medicinal plants. This is especially the case in Africa where a large percentage of the population depends on medicinal plant to treat malaria and other ailments.

Evaluation of Antimalarial Activity of Ethanolic Extract of .: An and an Approach.

In Nigeria, L. has been used to treat a variety of ailments. The mechanism of the antimalarial activity of ethanolic leaf extract of (EEAML) was investigated using both an in vivo and an in silico approach.

Women in focus: advice from the front lines on how to enable well-being and build resilience.

The 2019 European Congress of Radiology program, "Women in Focus: Be Inspired," offered insights from successful women and men for overcoming a number of everyday work and personal life challenges. With regard to balancing career and personal life and achieving well-being, the advice of female and male radiology leaders on the front lines, throughout the world, shares common themes. This paper highlights and expands on points of advice and encouragement from the "Women in Focus" program.

Oxidative Stress in Extrahepatic Tissues of Rats Co-Exposed to Aflatoxin B1 and Low Protein Diet.

Early life exposure to aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and low protein diet through complementary foods during weaning is common in parts of Africa and Asia. This study evaluated the effect of co-exposure to AFB1 and low protein diet on the extrahepatic tissues of rats. Twenty-four three-week old weanling male albino rats were used for this study and were randomly assigned into four groups: group 1 served as control and was fed normal protein diet (20% protein), group 2 was fed low protein diet (5% protein), group 3 was fed normal protein diet + 40 ppb AFB1 while group 4 received low protein diet + 40 ppb AFB1, all for eight weeks.

Mesoporous silica nanocarriers encapsulated antimalarials with high therapeutic performance.

The use of nanocarriers in drug delivery is a breakeven research and has received a clarion call in biomedicine globally. Herein, two newly nano-biomaterials: MCM-41 encapsulated quinine (MCM-41 ⊃ QN) (1) and 3-phenylpropyl silane functionalized MCM-41 loaded QN (pMCM-41 ⊃ QN) (2) were synthesized and well characterized. 1 and 2 along with our two already reported nano-antimalarial drugs (MCM-41 ⊃ ATS) (3) and 3-aminopropyl silane functionalized MCM-41 contained ATS (aMCM-41 ⊃ ATS) (4) were screened in vitro for their activity against P.

Coexistence of Aflatoxicosis with Protein Malnutrition Worsens Hepatic Oxidative Damage in Rats.

To investigate the effects of the coexistence of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and protein malnutrition in rat liver, weanling rats were fed either normal protein diet (20% protein), low-protein (PEM) diet (5%), normal protein diet + 40 ppb AFB1, or low-protein diet + 40 ppb AFB1. After 8 weeks, biomarkers of hepatic functions and oxidative stress, caspase-3 activity, and tumor suppressor protein 53 (p53) were determined spectrophotometrically. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA polymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) was employed to determine genomic alterations among the groups.

Arsenic-induced dyslipidemia in male albino rats: comparison between trivalent and pentavalent inorganic arsenic in drinking water.

Background: Recent epidemiological evidences indicate close association between inorganic arsenic exposure via drinking water and cardiovascular diseases. However, the exact mechanism of this arsenic-mediated increase in cardiovascular risk factors remains enigmatic.

Methods: In order to investigate the effects of inorganic arsenic exposure on lipid metabolism, male albino rats were exposed to 50, 100 and 150 ppm arsenic as sodium arsenite and 100, 150 and 200 ppm arsenic as sodium arsenate respectively in their drinking water for 12 weeks.

Amoxillin- and pefloxacin-induced cholesterogenesis and phospholipidosis in rat tissues.

Background: To investigate whether amoxillin and pefloxacin perturb lipid metabolism.

Methods: Rats were treated with therapeutic doses of each antibiotic for 5 and 10 days respectively. Twenty four hours after the last antibiotic treatment and 5 days after antibiotic withdrawal, blood and other tissues (liver, kidney, brain, heart and spleen) were removed from the animals after an overnight fast and analysed for their lipid contents.

In vivo antimalarial activity and toxicological effects of methanolic extract of Cocos nucifera (Dwarf red variety) husk fibre.

Objective: Phytochemical constituents as well as antimalarial and toxicity potentials of the methanolic extract of the husk fibre of Dwarf Red variety of Cocos nucifera were evaluated in this study.

Methods: The dried powdered husk fibre was exhaustively extracted with hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol successively and the methanolic extract was screened for flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, alkaloids, steroids, triterpenes, phlobatannins, anthraquinones and glycosides. A 4-day suppressive antimalarial test was carried out using Plasmodium berghei NK65-infected mice, to which the extract was administered at doses of 31.

Paraoxonase 1 activity in subchronic low-level inorganic arsenic exposure through drinking water.

Epidemiological evidences indicate close association between inorganic arsenic exposure via drinking water and cardiovascular diseases. While the exact mechanism of this arsenic-mediated increase in cardiovascular risk factors remains enigmatic, epidemiological studies indicate a role for paraoxonase 1 (PON1) in cardiovascular diseases. To investigate the association between inorganic arsenic exposure and cardiovascular diseases, rats were exposed to sodium arsenite (trivalent; 50, 100, and 150 ppm As) and sodium arsenate (pentavalent; 100, 150, and 200 ppm As) in their drinking water for 12 weeks.

Laboratory-confirmed influenza B infection in immunized long-term care facility residents receiving oseltamivir prophylaxis in Ontario.

We report on an influenza B outbreak in an Ontario long-term care facility in which 2 immunized residents receiving oseltamivir prophylaxis for at least 5 days developed laboratory-confirmed influenza B infection. All isolates were tested for the most common oseltamivir resistance, and none of them had resistance identified.

Tissue dyslipidemia in Salmonella-infected rats treated with amoxillin and pefloxacin.

Background: This study investigated the effects of salmonella infection and its chemotherapy on lipid metabolism in tissues of rats infected orally with Salmonella typhimurium and treated intraperitoneally with pefloxacin and amoxillin.

Methods: Animals were infected with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain TA 98. After salmonellosis was confirmed, they were divided into 7 groups of 5 animals each.

Community-acquired respiratory viruses and co-infection among patients of Ontario sentinel practices, April 2009 to February 2010.

Background: Respiratory viruses are known to cocirculate but this has not been described in detail during an influenza pandemic.

Objectives: To describe respiratory viruses, including co-infection and associated attributes such as age, sex or comorbidity, in patients presenting with influenza-like illness to a community sentinel network, during the pandemic A(H1N1)pdm09 in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: Respiratory samples and epidemiologic details were collected from 1018 patients with influenza-like illness as part of respiratory virus surveillance and a multiprovincial case-control study of influenza vaccine effectiveness.

Ethanolic extract of Clerodendrum violaceum Gürke leaves enhances kidney function in mouse model of malaria.

Evaluation of the effects of daily oral administration of ethanolic extract of C. violaceum leaves (13 mg/kg body weight) for 5 days on some kidney function indices of uninfected and Plasmodium berghei-infected mice was done on days 3, 8 and 14 post-infection. The indices studied include serum urea and creatinine concentrations with the specific activities of alkaline phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase in the kidney.

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties of Nelsonia canescens leaf extract.

An ethanolic extract of the dried leaves of Nelsonia canescens was investigated for anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities in rat. In the test for anti-inflammatory activity, the extract at the doses of 50-200 mg/kg significantly (P<0.05) inhibited carrageenan-induced paw oedema and cotton pellet granuloma.

Changes in temperature modulate heme oxygenase-1 induction by curcumin in renal epithelial cells.

The stress protein heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) plays an essential role in the prevention of transplant-associated organ injury and rejection. Prior to transplantation, organs are normally subjected to variable periods of cold storage in appropriate preservation solutions. Here, we examined whether curcumin, a phenolic plant extract which strongly induces HO-1 in many cell types, could up-regulate HO-1 protein in cultured renal epithelial cells at temperatures lower than the physiological 37 degrees C.