A new bioactive thiophenolic glycoside from the leaf of Massularia acuminata (g. Don Bullock) ex Hoyle (Rubiaceae).

BACKGROUND: Massularia acuminata is a small tree or shrub of tropical rainforest. The leaves are used in Nigerian ethno-medicine for the treatment of microbial infections and pharmacological report suggested the leaf extract as possessing antioxidant activity. This study was therefore carried out to determine the most antioxidant and antimicrobial active fraction(s) of Massularia acuminata leaf and the constituent(s) responsible for the activities. MATHERIALS AND METHODS: The leaf of Massularia acuminata was investigated for in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, using a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay and agar dilution method respectively. RESULTS: The ethyl acetate fraction demonstrated the best activities among the partitioned fractions tested. Bioassay guided purification of the most active ethyl acetate fraction led to isolation of a new thiophenolic glycoside, characterized as 4-(3',3'-dihydroxy-1-mercaptopropyl)phenyl glycosylpyranoside. CONCLUSION: The isolated compound from the leaf of Massularia acuminata demonstrated antioxidant and antimicrobial activities and may be responsible for the activities of leaf extract and its ethyl acetate fraction, hence this may justify its ethnomedicinal use.

Antimicrobial and antiplasmodial activities of a quaternary compound from Ritchiea capparoides var. longipedicellata.

UNLABELLED: The leaves of Ritchiea capparoides var. longipedicellata (Capparidaceae) is used in ethnomedicine in South-Western Nigeria to treat infectious and parasitic diseases. This study was aimed at identifying the compound(s) that are responsible for the antimicrobial and antiplasmodial activities of the leaves and also to contribute to the chemistry of the plant species. A 70 % aqueous ethanolic extract of the leaves of R. longipedicellata was subjected to repeated liquid chromatographic methods on silica gel, Lobar RP-18 column and Sephadex LH-20 to isolate a Draggendorf positive compound. The compound was identified by (1)H and (13)C NMR, ultra-violet spectroscopy and polarimetry. The antimicrobial activity of the compound was evaluated using the microbroth dilution method while the antiplasmodial activity was carried out according to Trager and Jenson (1976). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was expressed in mg/ml. The isolated compound, leavoisomer of stachydrine, inhibited the growth of Escherichia coli NCTC 8196 and Staphylococcus aureus NCTC 6571 at the MIC of 5 mg/ml. In the anti-malaria assay, the compound had inhibitory activity with the concentration required to cause 100% lethality being 0.667 mg/ml. CONCLUSION: The antibacterial and antiparasitic effects of quaternary ammonium compounds are well documented. However, this study is the first report of the presence and biological activities of this compound in this plant species which may justify the ethnomedicinal uses of the leaves.

A study of the intestinal carriage of antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus by Nigerian children.

BACKGROUND: The gastrointestinal tract has been recognized as a major ecological site for Staphylococcus aureus where it can reach neighboring sites and cause mild or serious infections. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of intestinal carriage of S. aureus in children aged 3 years and below in Ile-Ife, Nigeria and the antibiotic resistance characteristics of the organisms obtained. METHODS: The organisms isolated in the course of the study were identified by phenotypic and genotypic methods and screened against 13 antibiotics by conventional methods. A total of 293 subjects were sampled of which 130 were diagnosed with diarrheal at the time of the study while the rest were apparently healthy. RESULTS: 14.0% of the faecal samples yielded S. aureus with the carriage rate among the subjects being found to be highest at about 1 month approximately in subjected ages. Sixty-five percent of the isolates were found to be resistant to more than three different antibiotics with more than 50% being resistant to penicillin, erythromycin and trimethoprim. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study indicated that a reservoir of multiply antibiotic resistant S. aureus exists in the gastrointestinal tracts of children living within the study environment.

Re-usable low density polyethylene arm glove for puerperal intrauterine exploration.

OBJECTIVE: To design a long arm glove that can be used within a puerperal uterus to prevent the health-care worker contracting HIV from an infected patient. The designed long arm glove should be cheap (affordable) and readily available in low resource centres and must have proven sterility assurance and tensile strength to confer protection for the health worker. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria from 1st December 2006 to 31st May, 2007. SUBJECTS: Fifty medical students of both sexes were selected randomly and the average length from the styloid process to the mid upper-arm of each was measured and the average length was later determined. This was to determine the length of the low density polyethylene long arm gloves to be made from virgin polyethylene material. Consecutive cases of patients with retained placentae in the puerperium who were scheduled for manual removal of the placenta within the period. RESULTS: Packs of low density polyethylene (LDPE) long arm gloves were made from virgin polyethylene material. When subjected to bacteriological analysis, three out of four glove packs were contaminated with Staphylococcus, Bacillus and Klebsiella species of bacteria. Gamma irradiation ranging from 28.133 to 83.35 kiloGray of gamma-irradiation (kGy) sterilised all the gloves as postirradiation glove specimens showed no bacterial contamination. However, at doses up to 50 kGy gamma irradiation caused "strengthening" of the polyethylene gloves. While at doses greater than 50 kGy, gamma irradiation caused "embrittlement" of the material. Thus, 50 kGy of gamma irradiation was found to be an ideal dose to strengthen and to sterilise the glove for usage. The sterilized gloves were found to be effective when used in consecutive cases of retained placenta in protecting the health care workers (HCW) from contamination by possibly HIV contaminated blood. CONCLUSION: There is a risk of contracting HIV for the health-care worker while carrying out a procedure within the puerperal uterus. The low density polyethylene arm glove was designed to prevent this in low resource centres as it would be affordable, available, with proven sterility assurance and mechanical properties to confer protection for the health care worker.

Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Some Nigerian Medicinal Plants

Ten Nigerian plants suggested from their ethnomedical uses to possess antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were studied for their anti-microbial and anti-oxidant properties. Antimicrobial activity was tested against Escherichia coli NCTC 10418, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans, Candida pseudotropicalis and Trichophyton rubrum (clinical isolate). Trichilia heudelotti leaf extract showed both antibacterial and antifungal activities and was the most active against all the strains of bacteria tested. Boerhavia diffusa, Markhamia tomentosa and T. heudelotti leaf extracts inhibited the gram negative bacteria E.coli and P. aeruginosa strains whereas those of M. tomentosa, T. heudelotti and Sphenoceutrum jollyamum root inhibited at least one of the fungi tested. At a concentration of 312 µg/ml, hexane and chloroform fractions of T. heudelotti extract inhibited 6 and 14% of the fifty mult-idrug resistant bacteria isolates from clinical infectins, respectively. At ≤ 5mg/ml, the CHCl3 (64%) and aqueous (22%) fractions of T. heudelotti and those of CHCl3 (34%) and EtOAC (48%) of M. tomentosa gave the highest inhibition that was stronger than their corresponding methanol extracts. The corresponding EC50 of the extracts on M. acuminata, T. heudelotti, E. senegalensis and M. tomentosa were 4.00, 6.50, 13.33, and 16.50 ig/ml using the TLC staining and 1,1-dipheyl-2-picry-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. Therefore, leaf extracts of M. tomentosa and T. heudelotti, especially the latter, possess strong antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and should be further investigated. These activities justified the ethnomedical uses of these plants

A study of the microbial quality and organoleptic properties of ophthalmic preparations obtained from traditional medical practitioners in South Western Nigeria.

Twenty eight samples of traditional ophthalmic preparations were obtained from various traditional medical practitioners in the South Western states of Nigeria over a one-year period. They were examined for sterility, clarity, presence of particulate contamination and pH. All of them were found to be contaminated with bacteria to the order of 2.00 x 10(6) to 1.60 x 10(11) colony forming units/ml, with Pseudomonas species and other potential pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus, Yersinia enterocolita, Micrococcus varians and others being isolated from these preparations. A rotifer Rotaria rotatoria, at the adult stage, was also isolated from one sample, this being an indication of gross faecal contamination. All the samples were also found to contain significant particulate contamination and pH values encountered varied over the range of 2.5-9.2. None of the samples was found to comply with official specifications and all of them may therefore be regarded as being potentially dangerous to the users.

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of some Nigerian medicinal plants.

Ten Nigerian plants suggested from their ethnomedical uses to possess antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were studied for their anti-microbial and anti-oxidant properties. Antimicrobial activity was tested against Escherichia coli NCTC 10418, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Candida albicans, Candida pseudotropicalis and Trichophyton rubrum (clinical isolate). Trichilia heudelotti leaf extract showed both antibacterial and antifungal activities and was the most active against all the strains of bacteria tested. Boerhavia diffusa, Markhamia tomentosa and T. heudelotti leaf extracts inhibited the gram negative bacteria E. coli and P. aeruginosa strains whereas those of M. tomentosa, T. heudelotti and Sphenoceutrum jollyamum root inhibited at least one of the fungi tested. At a concentration of 312 microg/ml, hexane and chloroform fractions of T. heudelotti extract inhibited 6 and 14% of the fifty multi-drug resistant bacteria isolates from clinical infections, respectively. At < or = 5 mg/ml, the CHCl(3) (64%) and aqueous (22%) fractions of T. heudelotti and those of CHCl(3) (34%) and EtOAC (48%) of M. tomentosa gave the highest inhibition that was stronger than their corresponding methanol extracts. The corresponding EC(50) of the extracts on M. acuminata, T. heudelotti, E. senegalensis and M. tomentosa were 4.00, 6.50, 13.33, and 16.50 ig/ml using the TLC staining and 1,1-dipheyl-2-picry-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay. Therefore, leaf extracts of M. tomentosa and T. heudelotti, especially the latter, possess strong antimicrobial and antioxidant activities and should be further investigated. These activities justified the ethnomedical uses of these plants.