Antimalarial potential of kolaviron, a biflavonoid from Garcinia kola seeds, against Plasmodium berghei infection in Swiss albino mice

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the antimalarial potential of kolaviron (KV), a biflavonoid fraction from Garcinia kola seeds, against Plasmodium berghei (P. berghei) infection in Swiss albino mice.@*METHODS@#The study consists of seven groups of ten mice each. Groups I, II and III were normal mice that received corn oil, KV1 and chloroquine (CQ), respectively. Groups IV, V, VI and VII were infected mice that received corn oil, CQ, KV1 and KV2, respectively. CQ, KV1 and KV2 were given at 10-, 100- and 200-mg/kg daily, respectively for three consecutive days.@*RESULTS@#Administration of KV1 and KV2 significantly (P<0.05) suppressed P. berghei-infection in the mice by 85% and 90%, respectively, while CQ produced 87% suppression relative to untreated infected group after the fifth day of treatment. Also, KV2 significantly (P<0.05) increased the mean survival time of the infected mice by 175%. The biflavonoid prevented a drastic reduction in PCV from day 4 of treatment, indicating its efficacy in ameliorating anaemia. Significant (P<0.05) oxidative stress assessed by the elevation of serum and hepatic malondialdehydewere observed in untreated P. berghei-infected mice. Specifically, serum and hepatic malondialdehyde levels increased by 93% and 78%, respectively in the untreated infected mice. Furthermore, antioxidant indices, viz; superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-s-transferase, gluathione peroxidase and reduced gluathione decreased significantly (P<0.05) in the tissues of untreated P. berghei-infected mice. KV significantly (P<0.05) ameliorated the P. berghei-induced decrease in antioxidant status of the infected mice.@*CONCLUSIONS@#This study shows that kolaviron, especially at 200 mg/kg, has high antimalarial activities in P. berghei-infected mice, in addition to its known antioxidant properties.

Current concepts in tuberculosis diagnostics

The inability of the laboratory to adequately diagnose Tuberculosis (TB) using smear microscopy especially in those with latent infections; TB/HIV co-infections; paediatric and extra-pulmonaryinfections has led to an upsurge in TB epidemics in the community. While attention is being focused on HIV/AIDS pandemic; little is being heard of TB; especially in the areas of laboratory diagnosis (except of recent) despite the fact that the disease is the commonest cause of death in people living with HIV/AIDS. Efforts should be geared towards diagnostic TB research in developing countries to facilitate early diagnosis of cases and prompt initiation of therapy for TB control programme to have a meaningful impact in the community