Perfluoroundecanoic acid induces DNA damage, reproductive and pathophysiological dysfunctions via oxidative stress in male Swiss mice.

Perfluoroundecanoic acid (PFUnA) is an eleven carbon-chain compound that belongs to the perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid family. It has been detected in the human blood, effluents, and surface/ground waters, but its toxic effects to the DNA and reproductive system remain unclear. This study was aimed at exploring the toxicity of PFUnA on the hepatic DNA, organ-system and reproductive system in orally treated male Swiss mice. In this present study, administration of PFUnA for 28 days with five doses (0.1, 0.3, 05, 0.7 and 1.0 mg kg-1 b.w./d) in male Swiss mice induced significant hepatic DNA damage which was observed using the alkaline comet assay and equally altered hematological and clinical biochemical parameters. In addition to testicular atrophy, sperm count and sperm motility significantly decreased while sperm abnormalities increased after 35 days exposure. Serum LH and FSH levels were remarkably increased while serum testosterone levels were strikingly reduced. Histopathology revealed the liver, kidney, and testis as potential targets of PFUnA toxicity. Increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), as well as levels of glutathione-s-transferase (GST) and reduced glutathione (GSH), with consistent reduction of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and reduced glutathione (GSH) in the liver and testis induced oxidative stress. In conclusion, PFUnA exhibited both genotoxicity and reproductive toxicity via oxidative stress induction.

Mechanism of Viral Suppression among HIV Elite Controllers and Long-Term Nonprogressors in Nigeria and South Africa.

A subgroup among people living with HIV (PLHIV) experience viral suppression, sometimes to an undetectable level in the blood and/or are able to maintain a healthy CD4+ T-cell count without the influence of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. One out of three hundred PLHIV fall into this category, and a large sample of this group can be found in areas with a high prevalence of HIV infection such as Nigeria and South Africa. Understanding the mechanism underpinning the nonprogressive phenotype in this subgroup may provide insights into the control of the global HIV epidemic. This work provides mechanisms of the elite control and nonprogressive phenotype among PLHIV in Nigeria and South Africa and identifies research gaps that will contribute to a better understanding on HIV controllers among PLHIV.

Bioaccumulation of organochlorine pesticides in the parasite Cosmocerca sp. (Nematoda: Cosmocercidae) and the amphibian host Amietophrynus regularis (Reuss, 1833) within Lagos metropolis, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Amphibian species are being threatened worldwide and chemical pollution is one of the leading causes of this decline. The use of agrochemicals such as organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) among the several health and ecological challenges it causes, the sharp amphibian population decline is most pressing.Toad specimens Amietophrynus regularis were sampled from three (3) selected areas; each comprising of natural habitat and dumpsites within Lagos metropolis. METHODS: The congeners of organochlorine pesticides were tested in the liver, intestine, and parasite (Cosmocerca sp.) of the toads and soil samples from the respective locations using gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Histopathological analyses were conducted on the intestines and liver of the toads using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain and then examined under the binocular dissecting microscope. RESULTS: The concentration of aldrin in the intestine of A. regularis sampled at the dumpsites was higher than the concentrations in the intestines of A. regularis in the natural habitat. The concentrations of dieldrin in the uninfected A. regularis at both dumpsite and natural habitat were higher than the concentrations in the infected A. regularis at both environments. This indicated that the parasite Cosmocerca sp. may have played a depurative role in sequestering the concentration of dieldrin in the toads irrespective of the location. The parasites exhibited marked sequestration capacity characterized by the notably high total bioaccumulation rate both in the liver and the intestine at the dumpsite. The stunted villi being the common histological alteration in the infected and uninfected toads at the dumpsite but missing in the uninfected counterparts at the natural habitat may be attributed to the differences in the background concentration of the OCP congeners. CONCLUSIONS: The parasite- Cosmocerca sp. has been shown to be a potential tool in the biomonitoring of these OCP congeners which persists in the environment. Continuous research on these congeners is a searchlight to checkmate the environment to see how compliant industries and the consumers are in terms of regulation of these chemicals.

Exposure to effluent from pharmaceutical industry induced cytogenotoxicity, hematological and histopathological alterations in Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822).

Pharmaceutical effluents contain toxic xenobiotics capable of contaminating aquatic environments. Untreated effluents are illegally discharged into aquatic environment in most developing countries. Pharmaceutical effluent induced alterations in biomarkers of genetic and systemic damage on rodents. However, information is relatively scarce on the possible cytogenotoxicity and systemic toxicity of this effluent on aquatic vertebrates. The study herein assessed the cytogenotoxic, hematological and histopathological alterations induced by pharmaceutical effluent in Clarias gariepinus. 96 h acute toxicity of the effluent was determined after C. gariepinus was exposed to six different concentrations (10 - 60 %) of the effluent. Subsequently, fish was exposed to sub-lethal concentrations (2.18 - 17.41 %) obtained from the 96 h LC50 for 7 and 14 days after which micronucleus (MN) and nuclear abnormalities (NAs) in peripheral erythrocytes were assessed as cytogenotoxic biomarkers, alterations in hematological indices and histopathological lesions were also examined. Fish, concurrently exposed to dechlorinated tap water and benzene (0.01 mL/L), served as negative and positive controls respectively. The derived 96 h LC50 of 17.41 % which was 1.89 times more toxic than the 24 h LC50 (32.95 %) showed that the effluent induced concentration-dependent mortality according to exposure duration. The effluent caused significant (p<0.05) time-dependent increase in the frequency of MN and abnormal nuclear erythrocytes compared to the negative control. Also, there was decrease in total erythrocyte counts, hemoglobin and hematocrit concentrations and increase in leucocyte and lymphocyte counts. The effluent induced pathological lesions on gills, liver and kidneys of treated fish. Higher physicochemical parameters than standard permissible limits in the effluent are capable of inducing genomic instability and systemic damage in fish. Pharmaceutical effluent can increase micropollutants in aquatic environmental and health risks to aquatic biota. There is need to promulgate stringent laws against illegal discharge of effluents into aquatic environment.

Correction to: Population data of 21 autosomal STR loci in the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba people of Nigeria.

In the original paper author Alani Sulaimon Akanmu was erroneously omitted from the author list. Prof. Akanmu has now been added as 4th author. Prof. Akanmu acted as an academic supervisor of the study and additionally contributed to the publication by reading, commenting and editing the manuscript.

Population data of 21 autosomal STR loci in the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba people of Nigeria.

The three major ethnic groups of Nigerian population namely the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba make up 29, 21 and 18% of the total population, respectively. To provide genetic information necessary for forensic analysis, this study was carried out to determine STR allele frequencies in 102 Hausa, 128 Igbo and 134 Yoruba individuals in Nigeria using 21 STR loci including the 20 CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) loci plus SE33.

Exposure to radio-frequency electromagnetic waves alters acetylcholinesterase gene expression, exploratory and motor coordination-linked behaviour in male rats.

Humans in modern society are exposed to an ever-increasing number of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and some studies have demonstrated that these waves can alter brain function but the mechanism still remains unclear. Hence, this study sought to investigate the effect of 2.5 Ghz band radio-frequency electromagnetic waves (RF-EMF) exposure on cerebral cortex acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and their mRNA expression level as well as locomotor function and anxiety-linked behaviour in male rats. Animals were divided into four groups namely; group 1 was control (without exposure), group 2-4 were exposed to 2.5 Ghz radiofrequency waves from an installed WI-FI device for a period of 4, 6 and 8 weeks respectively. The results revealed that WiFi exposure caused a significant increase in anxiety level and affect locomotor function. Furthermore, there was a significant decrease in AChE activity with a concomitant increase in AChE mRNA expression level in WiFi exposed rats when compared with control. In conclusions, these data showed that long term exposure to WiFi may lead to adverse effects such as neurodegenerative diseases as observed by a significant alteration on AChE gene expression and some neurobehavioral parameters associated with brain damage.

Identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the agouti signaling protein (ASIP) gene in some goat breeds in tropical and temperate climates.

The agouti-signaling protein (ASIP) plays a major role in mammalian pigmentation as an antagonist to melanocortin-1 receptor gene to stimulate pheomelanin synthesis, a major pigment conferring mammalian coat color. We sequenced a 352 bp fragment of ASIP gene spanning part of exon 2 and part of intron 2 in 215 animals representing six goat breeds from Nigeria and the United States: West African Dwarf, predominantly black; Red Sokoto, mostly red; and Sahel, mostly white from Nigeria; black and white Alpine, brown and white Spanish and white Saanen from the US. Twenty haplotypes from nine mutations representing three intronic, one silent and five missense (p.S19R, p.N35K, p.L36V, p.M42L and p.L45W) mutations were identified in Nigerian goats. Approximately 89 % of Nigerian goats carry haplotype 1 (TGCCATCCG) which seems to be the wild type configuration of mutations in this region of the gene. Although we found no association between these polymorphisms in the ASIP gene and coat color in Nigerian goats, in-silico functional analysis predicts putative deleterious functional impact of the p.L45W mutation on the basic amino-terminal domain of ASIP. In the American goats, two intronic mutations, g.293G>A and g.327C>A, were identified in the Alpine breed, although the g.293G>A mutation is common to American and Nigerian goat populations. All Sannen and Sahel goats in this study belong to haplotypes 1 of both populations which seem to be the wild-type composite ASIP haplotype. Overall, there was no clear association of this portion of the ASIP gene interrogated in this study with coat color variation. Therefore, additional genomic analyses of promoter sequence, the entire coding and non-coding regions of the ASIP gene will be required to obtain a definite conclusion.