Toxicity and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses of a polyherbal formulation commonly used in Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria.

A polyherbal formulation mainly composed of and Aloe barbadensis commonly patronized by some staff and students of a College Hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria was evaluated for its toxicity status and bioactive constituents. Its safety was assessed using acute and sub-chronic toxicity models in Wistar rats while Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to identify the bioactive constituents. Findings showed that oral administration of the polyherbal formulation did not cause any notable behavioral changes or mortality in the animals during the acute toxicity testing.

The impact of Worms and Ladders, an innovative health educational board game on Soil-Transmitted Helminthiasis control in Abeokuta, Southwest Nigeria.

In most endemic sub-Saharan African countries, repeated infections with soil-transmitted helminth (STH) occur as early as six weeks after the end of mass drug administration (MDA) with albendazole. In this study, we designed a new health educational board game Worms and Ladders and evaluated its potential to complement MDA with albendazole and reduce reinfection rates through the promotion of good hygiene practices among school-aged children. The evaluation employed a randomized control trial (RCT) design.

Hypovitaminosis D Is Associated with Some Metabolic Indices in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), a pregnancy complication, is defined as any degree of glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency has recently been recognized as a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of GDM, and this link might be associated with hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and inflammation, which are implicated in GDM.

Objectives: This study aims at investigating the relationship between vitamin D, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), insulin, zinc, ferritin, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) in GDM.

Managing COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria: matters arising.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - novel Coronavirus 2 (SARS-nCoV-2), was first reported in Wuhan, China, in December, 2019. Since the outbreak, the virus has infected more than 9,866,685 individuals, 4,983,029 treated and discharged and 495,692 deaths globally. The first Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Nigeria was imported in February, 2020 and since then community transmission has been prevalent.

Stigma and utilization of treatment for adolescent perinatal depression in Ibadan Nigeria.

Background: Depression is a common and severe disorder among low-income adolescent mothers in low-and middle-income countries where resources for treatment are limited. We wished to identify factors influencing health service utilization for adolescent perinatal depression, in Nigeria to inform new strategies of care delivery.

Methods: Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted among purposively selected low-income young mothers (with medical histories of adolescent perinatal depression), and separately with primary care clinicians treating this condition in Ibadan, Nigeria.

A qualitative assessment of the influence of family dynamics on adolescents' sexual risk behaviour in a migration-affected community.

Adolescents may be known to take risks, but they may also conform to societal norms if they are given proper guidance, implying that there is a need for proper monitoring. This qualitative study explores the influence of family dynamics on adolescents sexual risk behaviour within a migration affected community. Using thematic analysis, we processed data collected from 13 adolescents and 10 parents.

Moderating Effect of Husband's Controlling Attitudes on the Relation Between Women's Household Decision-Making Autonomy and Intimate Partner Violence Experience in Nigeria.

Existing studies show a consensus on the importance of women's household decision-making autonomy. However, the studies also show mixed findings of the association between the variable and intimate partner violence (IPV). In this study, moderating effects of husband's controlling and domineering attitudes on the association between women's household decision-making autonomy and husband-perpetrated physical, sexual, and emotional violence were investigated.

Test for association between dieldrin resistance and 2La inversion polymorphism in Anopheles coluzzii from Lagos, Nigeria.

The assortment of paracentric chromosomal inversion 2La is associated with the maintenance of dieldrin resistance in laboratory colonies of the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae. This association has not been tested in field populations. The aim of this study was to test the association between inversion 2La and dieldrin resistance in a field population of An.

Causes of Poverty in Old Age, Not a Structural Failing?

The failures of many nations in Africa to include programs on aging into their national and developmental agendas have put more elderly people in the region at risk of poverty. Adult children are in many cases hampered from providing financial support to elderly parents due to waves of economic difficulties in many of the countries. The views of 36 elderly Nigerians were sought on causes of poverty in old age through key informant interviews.

Risk assessment and source identification of heavy metal contamination by multivariate and hazard index analyses of a pipeline vandalised area in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Petroleum contamination is a significant contributor of elevated level of toxic heavy metals, which are of great concern to human health, due to their non-biodegradable nature. Agaye community has experienced frequent gasoline spills due to pipeline vandalisation, resulting in the contamination of soil and water sources. The concentrations of metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, V and Zn) in groundwater, surface-water and soil were determined from a total of 216 samples acquired bi-monthly for two years by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) to evaluate the impact of oil spills.

Molecular pathways associated with oxidative stress in diabetes mellitus.

The role of oxidative stress in the occurrence and development of diabetes mellitus is both critical and pivotal. Several molecular event cascade in different metabolic pathways such as glycolytic, hexosamine, protein kinase C, polyol and advanced glycation end-product (AGE) pathways have been identified as pro-oxidative processes and are usually up-regulated in the diabetics. Inhibition of glyceraldehyde-3-P dehydrogenase by poly-ADP-ribose polymerase 1 and subsequent accumulation of the enzyme substrate (glyceraldehyde-3-P) appears to be central to diabetes-associated oxidative stress.

Quercetin attenuates hypertension induced by sodium fluoride via reduction in oxidative stress and modulation of HSP 70/ERK/PPARγ signaling pathways.

Hypertension is one of the silent killers in the world with high mortality and morbidity. The exposure of humans and animals to fluoride and/or fluoride containing compounds is almost inevitable. This study investigated the modulatory effects of quercetin on sodium fluoride (NaF)-induced hypertension and cardiovascular complications.

Is Women's Tendency to Negotiate Safer Sex Another Opportunity for Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria?

Husband's controlling and domineering attitudes have been shown to contribute to women's intimate partner violence experience in Nigeria. Some scholars have suggested that women's safer sex negotiation may create additional opportunity for incurring partner violence. The purpose of the current study was to test the possibility that married women's tendency to negotiate safer sex would contribute significant additional proportions of the variance in their experience of physical, sexual, and emotional violence.

Toxicological Assessment of Heavy Metal Bioaccumulation and Oxidative Stress Biomarkers In Clarias gariepinus from Igbokoda River of South Western Nigeria.

This study evaluated the environmental safety of Igbokoda River, a popular fishing hub in an oil producing area in Nigeria. Biomarkers of oxidative stress and heavy metals were determined in the liver and muscle of Clarias gariepinus from Igbokoda River and also in fish samples from a clean fish farm (control). Water samples from both sites were analysed for physicochemical parameters, heavy metals and bacterial contamination.

Alloxan-induced diabetes, a common model for evaluating the glycemic-control potential of therapeutic compounds and plants extracts in experimental studies.

Glycemic homeostasis refers to glucose balance or control within circulation in living organisms. It is normally and largely compromised in diabetes. The compromise when exacerbated, leads to several complications including retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy which are collectively known as diabetic complications and are the principal actors in co-morbidity and eventual mortality often associated with diabetes.

Anti-diabetic potential of Sapium ellipticum (Hochst) Pax leaf extract in Streptozotocin(STZ)-induced diabetic Wistar rats.

Backgound: Ethnobatanical survey associates Sapium ellipticum (SE) with antidiabetic usage among other medicinal functions in different parts of Africa. More importantly, previous studies on the plant extract in our laboratory showed that SE has significant effects on the activities of carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes such as glucokinase, glucose-6-phosphatase, α-amylase and α-glucosidase. In view of these, the anti-diabetic potential of the plant leaf extract in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes rat model (Wistar strain) was examined.

Fortification of Ogi with Whey Increases Essential Amino Acids Content of Fortified Product.

The inability of humans to synthesize essential amino acids (EAA) necessitates the need to increase the levels of these nutrient molecules in certain foods in which they are deficient. Maize ogi is a typical food product for both infants and adults in Africa, but with poor EAA content. This study therefore sought to assess the possibility of increasing the EAA content in maize ogi by processing it with cheese whey instead of water.

(Hochst.) Pax Ethanol Leaf Extract Maintains Lipid Homeostasis in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats.

Dyslipidemia is a common metabolic disorder especially in diabetes mellitus (DM). In this study, the ability of (SE) leaf extract to restore lipid homeostasis in streptozotocin-induced diabetes was examined. DM was induced in experimental rats (Wistar strains) using single intraperitoneal dose (55 mg/kg body weight {BW}) of streptozotocin (STZ).

Toxicity status and antiulcerative potential of leaf extract in Wistar rats.

Aims: The lethal dose 50% (LD) and antiulcerative potentials of (ST) leaf extract were investigated.

Materials And Methods: LD was determined through two routes of administration (intraperitoneal [i.p] and oral [p.

The antioxidant and phenolic profiles of five green vegetables grown in Southern Nigeria.

Background: Regular consumption of vegetables has been associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases. The phenolic and free radical scavenging properties of five green vegetables grown in southern Nigeria were determined.

Methods: The phenolic and antioxidant profile of African spinach, bitter leaf, jute leaf, scent leaf and water leaf harvested in the month of August were assessed using standard protocols.

Comparative study on the effects of aqueous extracts of viscum album (mistletoe) from three host plants on hematological parameters in albino rats.

Background: The extract of the leaves of Viscum album (mistletoe) has been used for centuries in traditional medicine in many parts of the world. However, like many medicinal plants, the belief that things of natural origin are safe may not be entirely true. The blood is a good indicator of health and pathological mirror of the entire body.

Roles and responsibilities in newborn care in four African sites.

Objectives: To explore roles and responsibilities in newborn care in the intra- and postpartum period in Nigeria, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Methods: Qualitative data were collected using in-depth interviews with mothers, grandmothers, fathers, health workers and birth attendants and were analysed through content and framework analyses.

Results: We found that birth attendants were the main decision-makers and care takers in the intrapartum period.

Perception and trends of associated health risks with seasonal climate variation in Oke-Ogun region, Nigeria.

This paper investigates the perceived and observed trends of associated health risks with seasonal climate variability and identifies types of and preference for adaptation strategies that are available at households and community levels in Oke-Ogun region, Nigeria. The study made use of household survey and rapid appraisal through focus group discussion and key informant interviews. For a short term climate-health impacts analysis, cases of notable diseases were correlated with monthly mean temperature and rainfall for the period 2006 and 2008.

Comparative studies of the effects of egg yolk, oats, apple, and wheat bran on serum lipid profile of wistar rats.

Excess consumption of egg especially its yolk has been implicated in hyperlipidaemia (high level of cholesterol and triglyceride in the blood). Conversely, soluble dietary fibers, probably due to their ability to bind free lipid molecules, appear to play an important role in protecting against hyperlipidaemia. This study sought to evaluate the comparative effects of selected sources of fibers: apple, oats, and wheat bran, on serum lipid profile in physiologically normal Wistar rats.