Distribution of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Apparently Healthy Population and its Susceptibility to Saponins from Dialium guineense.

Aims: The ethanolic extracts of stem bark and fruit pulp as well as saponins from Dialium guineense were assayed for antibacterial activity against Gram positive and negative strains and clinical strains of methicilin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolated from different locations on human body aged 20-30 years within the University of Nigeria community. Methodology: Agar diffusion technique was adopted. Results: The results showed that MRSA is predominant in apparently healthy population of the University community with 100% in males and 92.3% females showing positive case in nasal swab, 87.5% and 96.6 % positive from ear swabs of male and female volunteers respectively; and 77.7% positive from the high vaginal swabs of females. MRSA and other clinical isolates showed higher susceptibility to saponins compared to crude extracts; however, Bacillus cereus (NRRL 14724 and 14725) were not susceptible to the saponins from D. guineense. The MICs of the saponins were 31.25 mg/mL (B. subtilis ATCC 6051, P. aeruginosa, S. typhi, S. knitambo, P. mirabilis and S. aureus), 62.50 mg/mL (E. coli) and 125 mg/mL (P. aeruginosa ATCC 10145). Comparable MICs of higher values were obtained with the crude ethanolic extracts of stem bark and fruit pulp against MRSA and clinical isolates. Conclusion: The present findings revealed wide distribution of MRSA in an apparently healthy population in Nigeria and the susceptibility patterns showed the presence of a broad spectrum antibacterial agent in D. guineense.

Evidence for the spectroscopic determination of artesunate in dosage form.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Resistance to conventional antimalarials triggered off new policies to circumvent the devastating consequences of malaria especially in the trans-Saharan Africa. The use of artemisinin-based combinations as first line drug in treatment of uncomplicated malaria was then advocated and adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO). In Nigeria, this new policy has witnessed a surge in the number of circulating brands of such combinations. Unfortunately, at present, there are no "on-the-spot" cheap and reliable assay procedures for artesunate-based combinations. This is what the present research aims to achieve. METHODS: Ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy was used to establish the wavelength of maximum absorbance for pure powder of artesunate and then the Beer's plot generated. This was validated and used to assay nine brands (X1-X9) of artesunate in Nigerian drug market. RESULTS: Distinctive ultraviolet absorption at 287 nm of pure sample of Artesunate in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF) afforded a simple, precise and the most reliable method for the analysis of nine different brands of Artesunate marketed in Nigeria. SIF does not have any appreciable absorption in the ultraviolet region. This simple method yielded a Beer's plot for Artesunate with high correlation (R2) of 0.9972 +/- 0.00016 and was reproducible. The Beer's plot was obeyed in concentration range of 10-200 mg%. The limits of detection (sensitivity) and quantitation were found to be 0.471 mg/ml and 1.27 mg/ml respectively. The results showed that only four out of the nine brands assayed had deviations from label claims that were within acceptable limits. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Based on these convincing data, simple ultraviolet spectroscopy at 287 nm could be used to assay artesunate in formulations.

Haematotoxic evaluation of crude cannabis resin in rats

After chronic administration of crude Cannabisresin (CCR); (20 mg/kg and 40 mg/kg) to Spraque-Dawley albino rats for 21 days; the changes in various haematological indices such as packed cell volume (PVC); total leukocyte count; differential leukocyte count; red blood cell (RBC) count; absolute lymphocyte count; monocyte count; neutrophils and eosinophil counts were evaluated. The results show that the haematological indices such as erythrocytic and leucocytic counts were not significantly (P 0.05) affected by the treatment with the crude cannabinoid resin treated animal groups for the first two weeks of treatment. However in the third week; results showed significant increases (P 0.05) in the above mentioned indices while eosinophils disappeared from the blood of treated groups. It can be concluded from this study that chronic administration of CCR at high doses (above 20mg/Kg) to rats has slight haematotoxic potentials