ABSTRACT Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is known to improve treatment in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected patients but the emergence of drug resistance is an obstacle in the effective management of HIV infection and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Plasma viral load monitoring is the gold standard used in high-income countries for monitoring treatment but it is not available in many resource-limited settings. Although limited viral load testing is now avail...
ABSTRACT Onchocerciasis also referred to as river blindness is a neglected tropical disease that affects the skin and eyes. It is caused by the nematode Onchocerca volvulus. Disease pathology is largely attributed to host immune responses to microfilariae. The efficacy of ivermectin (IVM) is defined by its microfilaricidal effects (clearing > 60% of microfilariae within 24 hours, ~ 100% within 7 days) and its ability to temporarily retard adult parasite embryogenesis at least within 90 days. ...
ABSTRACT The n-butanol fraction (nBF) of Desmodium adscendens, a plant used for the management of asthma, is' an inhibitor of NADFH-dependent cytochrome P-450 (CYP) reactions. Its mechanism of action as an inhibitor is however not known. In this study, flavoprotein reductase activity, spectral changes associated with binding and spectral properties of reduced cytochrome c and CYP were used to investigate the mode of inhibition. nBF reduced cytochrome c but not CYP directly. In the prese...
ABSTRACT The impact of electromagnetic fields (EMF) from cell phones on selected soil microorganisms, enzymes and physico-chemical parameters was studied. EMF-unexposed soil from the homogenized sampled soil served as the control. At the periods of 0, 30, 60, and 90 days, the total colony counts (CFU/g) and viability ratios of Bacillus, Micrococcus, Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, Corynebacterium, Saccharomyces, Penicillium, and Geotrichum were determined. Also determined at the exposure perio...
ABSTRACT Diabetes mellitus, is a metabolic disorder caused by the inability of the beta pancreatic cells to adequately produce insulin or due to insulin resistance of cells. As a result of the increasingly high incidence of diabetes globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has set timelines and guidelines for the reduction of the risk of mortalities and morbidities associated with non-communicable diseases including diabetes, by the year 2030. However, this agenda is hinged on the availa...
ABSTRACT Ten phages were isolated randomly from sewage sources and disposal points on the University of Ghana,Legon campus, purified and characterised as delivery systems for the resistance marker genes, Strr and Benr. The phages were found to have proteins of relative molecular weights ranging from 9,000 - 100,000. Eight phages were found to be morphologically related to the tailed phages. The other two were tailless phages. All the coliphages isolated were morphologically related to the T-e...
ABSTRACT Titin is a giant protein that is known for its contribution to muscle elasticity and sarcomere assembly in vertebrate striated muscles. There is considerable interest in understanding the expression of the single gene (TTN) that encodes titin because mutations in the coding gene have been implicated in muscular dystrophy. Insights into the regulatory mechanisms involved in titin splicing would contribute to the development of effective treatments for titin associated muscular dystrop...
ABSTRACT Cancer remains a killer disease worldwide and research into various anticancer agents must continue unabated to assuage the devastating effects of the disease. Medicinal plants have been utilised since antiquity to cure various ailments and plant species continue to serve as sources of prototypes for drug discovery. The study sought to screen Ghanaian traditional medicinal plants for their antiproliferative effect on MCF7 breast cancer cell line and determine the mechanism of inducti...
ABSTRACT The long slender and short stumpy forms of pleomorphic T . b. rhodeslense (LSHTM 180) have been compared to each other and to the monomorphic T. b. rhodesiense Liverpool Normal (Liv). 1. The agar film technique showed that morphologically the stumpy LSHTM 180 can be differentiated from the slender LSHTM 180 and the monomorphic T. b. rhodesiense (Liv) because it contains lipid granules. 2. Starch gel and cellulose acetate electrophoresis did not show any major differences in the is...
ABSTRACT The effect of sublethal concentration of glyphosate on some biochemical parameters of male Clarias gariepinus was investigated. Healthy matured (4 months) male Clarias gariepinus were used as test and control organism. The effect on male reproductive hormone (testosterone), thyroid hormone, oxidative stress biomarkers, liver function parameters and haematological parameters were determined. Results obtained revealed that testosterone concentration in exposed groups w...
ABSTRACT In this study, we evaluated the effect of the total phenol extract of Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides leaves on oral glucose tolerance, lipid profile, liver function, oxidative stress parameters, and pancreas histopathology in diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced in rats by administration of alloxan monohydrate in a dose of 130 mg/kg b/w. Total phenol content of Z. zanthoxyloides leaves was administered to rats at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg b/w daily for 15 days. Blood glucose was measur...
Abstract The differences in chemical composition of natural antioxidants provides challenges at separating, detecting, and quantifying individual non-enzymatic antioxidants in complex food/biological systems. Consequently, the antioxidant capacity is a better approach at assaying beneficial health effects that can result from the combined actions of individual antioxidant species. Antioxidant assay methods are based either on electron transfer (ET) or hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) mechanisms. ...
Abstract Samples of Sarotherodon melanotheron obtained from water bodies of different pollution histories, that is, a site on the Volta lake near Ada, the Fosu lagoon at Cape Coast and aquaria containing the herbicide, 'Roundup', were used to investigate induction of hepatic cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase enzyme system (CYP) and glutathione-stransferase (GST) in response to pollutants. Total microsomal protein concentration was determined by the FolinLowry method. The activity of NADPH cytoch...
ABSTRACT HIV/AIDS is a major public health issue, having killed several millions of people, with subSaharan Africa mostly affected. Management of HIV infection, over the past decades, has been carried out using antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) has decreased morbidity and mortality from HIV, long term therapy is associated with toxicity and severe side effects. These side effects have been attributed in part to ART-induced mitochondrial toxicity due to mitochon...
ABSTRACT Cocoa kombucha (CK) is a new alcoholic beverage developed from cocoa which has many health benefits, so its antioxidant activity and anti-proliferative activity in Jurkat P9 cancer cells were determined and compared to unfermented cocoa and selected standards. The antioxidant activity of CK extract was determined by DPPH assay and total phenolic content, as well as its iron reducing power. The MTT assay was used to determine the anti-proliferative activity of cocoa kombucha. Results ...