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 ...
ABSTRACT The n-butanol fraction (nBF) of Desmxhvw adscendens , a plant used for the management of asthma, is' an inhibitor of NADPH-dependent cytochrcire P-450 (CYP) reactions. Its mechanism of action as an inhibitor is however net knewn. In this study, flavoprotein reductase activity, spectral changes associated with binding and spectral properties of reduced cytochrcme c and CYP were used to investigate the mode of inhibition. nBF reduced cytochrcme c but not CYP directly. In the presence o...
Abstract It has become certain that part o f the haemolytic component o f the anaemia of Plasmodium falciparum malaria results from increased removal o f unparasitized red blood cells. There have been several reports o f associations between positive Coom bs’ DAT and anaemia, and also of observations o f unparasitized erythrocytes in monocytes o f patients with P. falciparum infections. Perturbations in cytokine balance have also been blamed for reduced red cell survival as well as for defe...
ABSTRACT The blood type of malaria patients may determine the outcome of disease. Blood group O associates with protection, while non-O blood groups (A, B or AB) are associated with severe malaria. Rosetting of red blood cells (RBC), which is mediated by blood group A and other red blood cell surface molecules, is also associated with severe disease in the two most virulent species of Plasmodium that infect humans. The interaction of parasite ligands with blood group carbohydrates on RBC and ...
ABSTRACTStudies have established the presence of some species including fish, in highly polluted water bodies. In order to develop a better understanding of their ability to survive in such environments, this work was undertaken to ascertain the extent of microsomal cytochrome P450 induction, the modification of other proteins and the impact of the pollutants on the genetic material of the surviving organisms. In these studies, hepatic microsomal and cytosolic fractions were prepared from Cla...
ABSTRACT Background: Malaria is one of the leading vector-borne infectious diseases in the world with alarming death rates, which is of public health concern. Only 0.1-1 gametocyte per µL blood is sufficient to spread malaria; however microscopy which is the gold standard for detection has a detection limit of 8 gametocytes per µL. Therefore, some individuals who may be diagnosed by microscopy as negative for gametocyte may be possible reservoirs of malaria transmission. Main Objective: Thi...
ABSTRACT Within persons infected with HIV worldwide, almost 10% have chronic HBV infection, and about 6% of all HBV infected patients are co-/superinfected with HDV, resulting in accelerated progression of hepatitis towards end stage liver disease. Even though within HIV/HBV infected patients, an increase in HDV infection has been observed, there is inadequate information on HDV prevalence as well as virologic profile in Ghana. This study sought to determine the presence of HDV in HIV/HBV co-...
ABSTRACT Fermentation of sugared tea with a symbiotic culture of acetic acid bacteria and yeast (tea fungus) yields kombucha tea which is consumed worldwide for its refreshing taste and beneficial effects on human health. It is claimed to prevent various types of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, promote liver function, and stimulate the immune system. The antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of tea kombucha and unfermented tea were, therefore, investigated in this study. The cytoto...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Despite being thought to be a group of rare disorders, the incidence of autoimmune conditions like Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune thyroiditis are on the rise in Ghana. Autoimmune disorders result from a breakdown of immunologic tolerance leading to an immune reaction against self-autoantigens. Antinuclear antibodies are a group of autoantibodies that mediate the pathogenesis of several autoimmune conditions es...
Conventional protein ingredients are expensive, thus necessitating the use of alternative sources of the nutrient. Feather Meal (FM) is high in Crude Protein (CP) but poorly digested by monogastric animals due to the presence of keratin. Poultry requires exogenous enzymes to break it down to its constituent amino acids. Information on digestibility of CP of FM in broilers is scanty. Therefore, ileal CP digestibility of FM supplemented with protease in broiler chickens was investigated. ...
The toxicities of single antibiotics: ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, sulfathiazole and amoxicillin and their quaternary mixtures in different ratios were examined on three organisms Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Micrococcus luteus all isolated from Nworie River from three different points including the point of effluent discharge of a hospital. Toxicity of antibiotics and mixtures was assessed using inhibition of total dehydrogenase assay method. Result obtained from the study...
Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) family of enzymes plays important roles in the protection of organisms from oxidative damage. GPx converts reduced glutathione (GSH) to oxidized glutathione (GSSG) while reducing lipid hydroperoxides to their corresponding alcohols or free hydrogen peroxide to water. This study was conducted to investigate the possible effects of temperature in vivo on Glutathione peroxidase (GPX) oxidative activity in fish tissues.An adult fully grown cat fish, (the African flath...
ABSTRACT The eicosanoids are a group of oxygenated unsaturated 20-carbon chemical compounds produced from arachidonic acid (AA), that mediate almost every step in the inflammatory process naturally. Some of the eicosanoids are anti-inflammatory while others are proinflammatory. Desmodium adscendens, a medicinal plant used by local herbalists to manage asthma, had been shown to be anti-anaphylactic in vivo, and to modulate AA metabolism in vitro. In this work, the anti-inflammatory properties...