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Background and Objectives:Duranta erectais used in folklore medicine for the treatment of myriad of diseases in Africa. The study was carried out to evaluate the safety of hydroethanolic leaves extract of D. erectain experimental rats in order to ascertain its potential toxic effects. Materials and Methods:The acute toxicity study was performed by fixed dose method at 5000 mg/kg. In the subacute study performed on both male and female rats, group I (control) received 1 mL of freshly distilled water, groups II, III, IV were treated with 100, 250 and 500 mg/kg of freshly prepared extract respectively for 28 days. At the end of the study, haematological and biochemical parameters were determined. Internal organs (kidney, liver, lung, heart, spleen, stomach, testes and uterus) were weighed.Results:50% lethal dose (LD50) of the extract was determined to be >5 g/kg body weight. The subacute toxicity assessment resulted in overall body weight increase, a change in relative organ weight of the liver, lung, stomach, and changes in the haematological indices such as HCT%, LYM%, RDW-SD/fL, MCHC, MCV/fL, P-LCR% and biochemical parameters namely ALT, AST, LDH and creatinine of the tested group relative to the normal. The positive activity of the extract on liver enzymes and LDH is an indication of its good hepatoprotective potential.Conclusion:The results affirmed that the extract is safe but could cause kidney problems when used for a prolonged period
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Aims:Micronutrients such as chromium, iron, magnesium and zinc can serve as good therapeutic and preventive agents for several diabetes complications including Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM). The aim of this study was to compare the serum levels of chromium, iron, zinc and magnesium in pregnant women with and without GDM and to assess the association between the levels of these minerals and GDM.Study Design:A cross-sectional study.Place and Duration ofStudy:Antenatal clinics in five selected hospitals in Ashanti region of Ghana between August 2016 to August 2017. Methodology:A total of 50 pregnant women with GDM and 50 controls of the same gestational age participated in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information on demographic and clinical characteristics. Standard oral glucose tolerancetest was used to measure glucose profile.Serum levels of chromium, iron, zinc and magnesium were measured using the atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). Results:The results indicated that 14% of the respondents with GDM had a previous history of gestationaldiabetes. However, there was no previous history among the control group. Serum zinc was not significantly different in the two groups (0.052 ± 0.01 mg/dl; 0.093 ± 0.03 mg/dl, p=0.276). Iron levels in the GDMgroup were high (0.956 ± 0.35 mg/dl) compared with the control group (0.635± 0.41 mg/dl). There was no significant difference of the serum magnesium level in the two groups (p=0.967). Chromium was higher in the GDMgroup (0.051±0.05) than the control group (0.012±0.06). There was a significant positive correlation between iron (r = 0.303, p = 0.000) and chromium (r = 0.302, p= 0.002) with the markers of GDM.Conclusion:The study showed that high serum concentration of iron is associated with hyperglycemia. Serum magnesium and zinc levels did not exhibit any significant differences between GDMwomen and nondiabetic women. It is recommended that micronutrients supplementation during pregnancy needs to be carefully examined and commence only when significant deficiencies are observed.
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Aims: To determine prevalence of hypertension among adolescent students and prognosis of associated dysfunction on specific organ function among adolescent students.Study Design:A cross-sectional study.Place and Duration of Study:Three senior high schools (SHS) in Ashanti region of Ghana, namely Anglican SHS, Konongo Odumase SHS and Bonwire SHS, between October 2016 and March 2017.Methodology:A multi-stage sampling method was used to select 909 adolescents from the three SHS. Participants were screened for elevated blood pressure. A total of 142 participants had high blood pressure and were used for this study. Anthropometries; body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (%BF), visceral fat (VF), waist circumference (WC) and blood pressure levels were measured with recommended instruments and biochemical and haematological parameters were assessed. Sociodemographic data were taken with questionnaire.Results:Out of 909 adolescent students, the prevalence of high blood pressure from first screening was 9.1%.However, upon second screening from those with high blood pressure from the first screening, prevalent rate for high blood pressure had declined to 1.21%.Hypertension was higher in males (10.7%), compared to females (4.5%, P= 0.658). There were no significant differences between BMI (P= 0.847), %BF (P= 0.501), VF (P= 0.195), WC (P= 0.450) among hypertensive, pre-hypertensive and normotensive participants. There was no significant mean difference betweenurea (P= 0.236), creatinine (P= 0.995), serum sodium (P= 0.126), serum chloride (P= 0.516), serum potassium (P= 0.878) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels (P= 0.397) and blood pressure status. Total cholesterol (P= 0.765), triglycerides (P= 0.381), HDL (P= 0.777) and LDL (P= 0.768) was not significantly associated with blood pressure status.Conclusions:Participants had high blood pressure level. Despite the prevalence of high blood pressure among adolescent population, it had no impact to cause anydysfunction in kidney, cardiovascular and liver. Hence, appropriate diet and lifestyle management are needed to prevent early and/or future complication of hypertension among adolescents
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Aims: To explore the use of Borassus aethiopum fruit as composite flour and bread and determine the phytochemical composition in each product. Place and Duration: Department of Biochemistry, and Department of Food science food and sensory evaluation laboratory, between September, 2016 and April, 2017. Study Design: An experimental study. Methods: The African palmyra fruits were obtained from Sekyere Odumase and processed into Borassus flour and composite bread. Phytochemicals constituents were determined in both products using aqueous and methanol extracts. Results: The results of both aqueous and methanol extraction for the phytochemical testing indicated that the raw B. aethiopum powder (RBAP) contained flavonoids, saponins, phenols, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids, triterpenes, steroids and sterols. Borassus bread contained flavonoids, alkaloid, triterpenes, steroids and sterols in both extracts, whilst cardiac glycosides, saponins and phenols maintained their strong presence in both extracts of composite Borassus bread. Tannins were absent in both extracts of B. aethiopum powder and bread composite. Also, the total phenol content in the composite bread was lower compared with the Borassus flour (P=0.000). The total antioxidant capacity in the Borassus flour (EC50= 2.1±0.24 mg/mL) was significantly higher than the composite bread (EC50=2.24±0.4 mg/mL) (P= 0.000). However, both products had less antioxidants than standard ascorbic acid (EC50=0.12±0.2 mg/mL). Conclusion: Both Borassus flour and composite bread had appreciable phytochemicals present, with some antioxidant capacity which could beneficially help in the management of people with chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
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Background: Cancer is one of the many diseases of global concern due to its high mortality rate with drug resistance becoming a major challenge to chemotherapy and this have propelled many cancer patients to seek alternative and complementary methods of treatment. The objective for this study was, therefore, to determine the antiproliferative activity as well as phytochemical, total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant activity of the stem and leaf extracts (FPS and FPL) of Ficus pumila (L.) using standard methods. Methods: The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay was used to evaluate anti-proliferative effect and spectrophotometric-based assays for antioxidant and TPC. Phytochemical constituents were accessed by standard methods. Results: The hydroethanolic extracts of the leaves and stems were rich in tannins, general glycosides, saponins, terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids (leaves only), and sterols (stem only). Strong total antioxidant activities were observed with FPL and FPS with EC50 values of 0.07 mg/ml and 0.089 mg/ml, respectively. All the crude extracts showed anti-proliferative effect towards the three human leukemic cell lines used (Jurkat, CEM, and HL-60). However, FPL gave the strongest inhibition concentration at 50% values of 130.97 μg/ml (Jurkat) and 56.31 μg/ml (HL-60). Conclusion: These findings suggest that crude extracts of FPS and FPL have antiproliferative effect on the leukemia cells. The antioxidant properties of the plant including phenolics may be partly responsible for the anti-proliferative activity. Further studies are required to isolate chemical components of the plant and establish their anti-proliferative activities and mechanism of action.
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In recent times, weeds have been controlled by chemical means and other means because they are seen as plant pests as they compete with “useful” plants for shelter, sunlight, nutrients and water. However, these weeds can serve as medicines for the treatment of several diseases such as diabetes and hyperlipidaemic conditions. This review, therefore creates the awareness of some weeds on KNUST campus, Kumasi-Ghana, which are capable of treating diabetes and hyperlipidaemia. There were sixteen weeds from 11 different families identified with antihyperlipidaemic and anti-diabetic properties or both. These same plants are also effective against other ailments such as malaria, toothache, eye problems, among others. Conclusion can therefore be drawn that weeds are valuable medicinal plants and hence, must be preserved.