ABSTRACT
Efforts have been intensified to search for more effective antimalarial agents because of the observed failure of some artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) treatments of malaria in Ghana. Xylopic acid, a pure compound isolated from the fruits of the Xylopia aethiopica, was investigated to establish its attributable prophylactic, curative antimalarial, and antipyretic properties. The antimalarial properties were determined by employing xylopic acid (10-100 mg/kg) in ICR mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. Xylopic acid exerted significant (P < 0.05) effects on P. berghei infection similar to artemether/lumefantrine, the standard drug. Furthermore, it significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced fever in Sprague-Dawley rats similar to prednisolone. Xylopic acid therefore possesses prophylactic and curative antimalarial as well as antipyretic properties which makes it an ideal antimalarial agent.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The focus of this study was to evaluate the visual status of mine workers who were directly involved in mining and/or are exposed to the mining environment. METHODS: A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted. Four hundred and six (406) workers were conveniently sampled for the study. Information on their socio-demographic data was also collected. In addition, all participants underwent ophthalmic examination. RESULTS: The mean age of the workers was 41.1 years. Visual impairment was found in 114 (28.1%) of the study population of which refractive error (56.8%) was the major cause. Presbyopia was also observed in 45.5% of the workers with only 30.3% of them wearing near correction. The prevalence of eye diseases were pterygium/pingueculae (25.8%), conjunctivitis (26.8%), suspected glaucoma (15.3%), and cataract (7.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Visual impairment and eye diseases were found among the miners.
