Heat resistance of dermatophyte's conidiospores from athletes kits stored in Nigerian University Sport's Center.

The incidence and heat resistance of conidiospores produced by dermatophytes isolated from athlete's kits (canvasses, stockings and spike shoes) stored in Nigerian University Sport's Centre were investigated. Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum oudouinii, Microsporum canis, Trichophyton concentricum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Trichophyton rubrum were isolated and their incidence on the athlete's kits varied with the species and type of kits. Among the isolates T. mentagrophytes, T. rubrum and E. floccosum with 25%, 23% and 20% prevalence rates respectively, were the most common isolates, and are often associated with tinea pedis (athletes foot). Canvasses with the highest incidence of dermatophytes (25 out of 34 fungal isolates) were the most contaminated kits and could serve as effective articles for the transmission of tinea pedis among athletes in Nigeria. The common etiological agents screened, produced asexual spores (conidiospores) that exhibited high resistance to heat treatment at 80 degrees C. Of the three isolates, E. floccosum, with a decimal reduction time (D-value) of D80 = 4.4 min was the most resistant followed by T. mentagrophytes with D80 = 4.0 min and then T. rubrum with D80 = 3.2 min. The spores elimination pattern indicates that increasing the heating duration would decrease the decimal reduction time and possibly denature the fungal propagules but may damage the skin during treatment with hot water compresses. The findings have shown that the use of hot water compresses is palliative but heat treatment especially vapour-heat treatment offers adequate preventive measures if applied for periodic treatment of contaminated kits. However, determining the correct condition for effective decontamination will require detailed understanding of the heat resistance of fungal spores. Otherwise treatment of kits with detergent and chaotropic agent such as urea and guanidinium salt is preferred to heat treatment.

Growth, keratinolytic proteinase activity and thermotolerance of dermatophytes associated with alopecia in Uyo, Nigeria.

Mycological research was conducted on the mycelial growth, keratinolytic proteinase activity and thermotolerance ofdermatophytes associated with alopecia patients in Uyo, Nigeria. The results revealed that Microsporum sp. - AP1, Epidermophyton sp. - AP2, Trichophyton rubrum - AP4, Trichophyton mentagrophytes - AP5 and a yeast Candida albicans - AP3 isolated exhibited variable growth and keratinase activity at different temperatures. Microsporum sp. - AP1 and T. mentagrophytes - AP5 survived heat treatment at 90 degrees C but exhibited best mycelial growth at 30 degrees C (with 53.41 mg/50 ml biomass dry weight) and 40 degrees C (with 61.32 mg/50 ml biomass dry weight) respectively, after incubation for 2 weeks. Trichophyton rubrum - AP4 and Epidermophyton sp. - AP2 could not survive heat treatment at 90 degrees C but grew better at 40 degrees C (with 38.52 mg/50 ml biomass dry weight) and 30 degrees C (with 48.32 mg/50 ml biomass dry weight) respectively, over the same incubation period, while C. albicans - AP3 grew better at 30 degrees C with 38.7 mg/50 ml biomass dry weight after 2 weeks, but failed to survive at 70 degrees C. All the isolates except Candida albicans - AP3 survived at 80 degrees C and exhibited great potential to elaborate keratinolytic enzymes, with T. mentagrophytes demonstrating the best potential at 30 degrees C and 40 degrees C. Higher temperatures tended to reduce keratinolytic activities and there were significant (P < 0.05) relationships between biomass weight and enzyme productivities of all the isolates except T. mentagrophytes. This indicates that in some dermatophytes keratinolytic proteinase activity is not a function of cell multiplicity. This plus the high thermostability of the enzymes are important attributes in the consideration of preventive and therapeutic methods against dermatophytes in the tropics.

Hepatotoxicity of carbon tetrachloride: protective effect of Gongronema latifolium.

The protective effect of the ethanolic extract of Gongronema latifolium (GLE) on carbon tetrachloride (CCI4) induced hepatic toxicity was studied. Liver enzymes studied included alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotraferase (AST), and alkaline phosphates (ALP). Hepatic injuries involved with possible necrosis which may have contributed to its possible pathogenesis was explored. Administration of toxicant only showed that the ALT level was significantly (P<0.05) increased to 345.83% when compared to control. Pretreatment with Gongronema latifolium extract (GLE) non-significantly (P<0.05) decreased to 13.08% when compared to those treated with toxicant only. Also under experimental conditions, increasing the concentration of Gongronema latifoluim extract (GLE) non-significantly (P<0.05) decreased dose-dependently the level of ALT to 18.20%. The AST level was non-significantly (P<0.05) increased to 41.55% on treatment with toxicant only. Pretreatment with GLE decreased the AST level non-significantly (P<0.05) to 25.76%. No evident increase or decrease in the level of ALP was observed. Treatments with toxicant showed liver cells filled with uniformly distributed dense small fat droplets, large nuclei, inflamed cells and evidence of necrosis and fibrosis. Pretreatment with 100mg/kg of the extract showed microvesicular fatty change with no evidence of inflammation, necrosis or fibrosis. The protective effect of the GLE was more pronounced in ALT and AST. However, the GLE has a strong modulatory effect against the hepatocellular damage induced by carbon tetrachloride.

The protective effect of aloe vera juice on lindane induced hepatotoxicity and genotoxicity.

The protective effect of fresh aloe vera (AV) leaves extract on lindane (LD) - induced hepatoxicity and genotoxicity was studied. Serum levels of hepatic enzyme markers: glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT), glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT), gamma glutamyl transferase (GGT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were determined after oral administration of aloe vera leaves extract and lindane. The level of polychromatic erythrocytes was also observed. Pretreatment with aloe vera leaves extract at concentration of 1.0 ml/kg body weight significantly decreased (P<0.05) the serum levels of GPT (by 41.8%), GOT (by 36.5%), GGT (by 14.3%) and ALP (by 10.7%) induced by 100mg/kg body weight of lindane. The level of polychromatic erythrocytes observed was not statistically significant when compared to control.

Studies on mould growth and biomass production using waste banana peel.

Hyphomycetous (Aspergillus fumigatus) and Phycomycetous (Mucor hiemalis) moulds were cultivated in vitro at room temperature (28 + 20 degrees C) to examined their growth and biomass production on waste banana peel agar (BPA) and broth (BPB) using commercial malt extract agar (MEA) and broth (MEB) as control. The moulds grew comparatively well on banana peel substrates. No significant difference (p > 0.05) in radial growth rates was observed between moulds cultivated on PBA and MEA, although growth rates on MEA were slightly better. Slight variations in sizes of asexual spores and reproductive hyphae were also observed between moulds grown on MEA and BPA. Smaller conidia and sporangiospores, and shorter aerial hyphae (conidiophores and sporangiophores) were noticed in moulds grown on BPA than on MEA. The biomass weight of the test moulds obtained after one month of incubation with BPB were only about 1.8 mg and 1.4 mg less than values recorded for A. fumigatus and M. hiemalis respectively, grown on MEB. The impressive performance of the moulds on banana peel substrate may be attributed to the rich nutrient (particularly the crude protein 7.8% and crude fat 11.6% contents) composition of banana peels. The value of this agricultural waste can therefore be increased by its use not only in the manufacture of mycological medium but also in the production of valuable microfungal biomass which is rich in protein and fatty acids.

Chemical composition of the edible leaves of Pterocarpus mildbraedii.

Proximate composition, mineral element content, amino acid profile and the levels of some antinutrients in the edible leaves of Pterocarpus mildhraedii were determined. Moisture content was assayed as 85.12 percent (wet weight). Protein, fat, ash and fibre contents of the leaf (percent dry weight) were 25.84, 5.23, 6.44 and 7.56 respectively. Mineral element analysis showed high levels of calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper, manganese and zinc. However, the level of sodium in the vegetable was low. Amino acid profile indicated that the leaf is rich in essential amino acids. The antinutrient levels of hydrogen cyanide and oxalate were low. The paper suggests the need to meet nutrient requirements through an increased use of this cheap but less popular food item with good nutritive potential.