ABSTRACT Tea industry in Kenya forms the largest agribusiness contributing up to 4% of the country’s gross domestic product and over 26% of total foreign exchange earnings. However, significant revenue is lost when tea is sold in undiversified form. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the biochemical diversity in Kenyan tea clones and their potential for diverse product development. Samples were obtained from 197 tea clones conserved in Kericho and Kangaita substation and assayed fo...
ABSTRACT Microbial infections remain to be a major global public health challenge. In Kenya, these infections cause significant morbidity and mortality. Their devastating effects are majorly attributed to antimicrobial drug resistance. Nonetheless, the biodiversity and ecology of tropical Basidiomycetes fungi is an untapped source of potential bioactive compounds. Therefore, the current study aimed to isolate and test crude extracts and antimicrobial compounds from Basidiomycetes against sel...
ABSTRACT Different communities in Kenya use a wide variety of indigenous plants for food. About 850 species of plants are used for food. To this group belong Amaranthus species that has important nutrients and a rich array of biologically active secondary metabolites. Corriandrum sativum is a leafy spice/ herb that contain volatile oils from which it derives its flavour and aroma and also antimicrobial properties. Essential oils from fresh leaves of C. sativum were extracted by hydro distill...
ABSTRACT Innate immunity has a key role in the control of microbial infections in both vertebrates and invertebrates. In insects, including vectors that transmit parasites that cause major diseases such as trypanosomosis, leishmaniasis and filariasis, antimicrobial peptides and agglutinins form an important component of innate immunity and participate in regulating parasite development. In this study, induced haemolymph peptides from a non-vector, nonheamatophagous insect, Schistocerca grega...
ABSTRACT The present study examined the total, membrane bound and soluble HLA-G in infected and uninfected placentas using quantitative real time PCR, ELISA and immunohistochemistry. The total HLA-G transcripts differed significantly (p = 0.009) between infected and uninfected primigravidae. The membrane bound HLA-G transcripts were significantly more abundant than the soluble HLA-G in infected placentas (p = 0.04) in all mothers. At the protein level infected placentas had higher mean level...
ABSTRACT Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) is an indigenous fruit tree occurring in the savannah drylands of sub-Saharan Africa. A vast population of people in this region suffers from hidden hunger and malnutrition. Baobab fruits are a source of micronutrients, and their utilization in local diets has potential to improve health of the rural poor. The present study was conducted to determine the nutritional characteristics of baobab pulp and seeds across Africa geographical regions. Mature baob...
ABSTRACT Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a large group of organic compounds included in the European Union and US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) priority pollutant list because of their mutagenic and carcinogenic properties. Several studies have shown that exposure to benzo[A]pyrene (BaP), a member of the PAHs increases the risk of cancer. PAHs have been the subject of much concern in the recent years due to their toxic potential. They are known as highly stable contamina...
ABSTRACT Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) causes an acute and highly contagious immunosuppressive disease in young chickens aged 3 to 6 weeks. The molecular epidemiology of IBD virus causing severe disease in chickens in Tanzania has not been consistently studied. A cross-sectional study that involved collection of bursal of Fabricius from dead chicken following IBD outbreak(s) in Dar es Salaam was conducted. The laboratory analysis of samples was performed by reverse transcription-pol...
ABSTRACT Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder of multiple etiology, characterized by chronic hyperglycemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. It is associated with significant morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular complications as a result of imbalance in lipid metabolism. Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are estimated to occur in 15% of all patients with diabetes and precede 84% of all dia...
ABSTRACT Cadmium (Cd) is a ubiquitous environmental and industrial pollutantwhose exact toxicity mechanisms still remain elusive. However, cumulative data has implicated bioaccumulation as well as free radical generation in the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of cadmium induced toxicity. Chelation therapy with calcium disodium ethylenediamine tetra acetic acid (CaNa2EDTA), British Anti Lewisite (BAL), meso 2, 3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) is so far among the best known treatment again...
ABSTRACT Human African trypanosomosis (HAT) is caused by subspecies of T. brucei found in East, Central and West Africa, with T. b. rhodesiense and T. b .gambiense causing sleeping sickness in human through the bite of a tsetse fly of the genera Glossina. The treatment of CNS infection is difficult and at the same time the biology of late stage trypanosome infection is poorly understood. In addition, the parasites hideout in the brain and their mode of survival and multiplication in the brain...
ABSTRACT An increasing number of women worldwide are using some form of contraceptive drugs for family planning including combined oral contraceptives (COC). However, the use of COC has been associated with some adverse effects such as anemia and impaired energy metabolism in some users. A cross-sectional study was, therefore, carried out to investigate the effect of vitamin B6 supplementation on plasma glucose tolerance, hemoglobin levels and body weight using experimental mice model. Forty...
ABSTRACT Banana is an important crop in East Africa. In the tropics, banana and plantains are a major source of carbohydrate for about 400 million people of whom 200 million are from East Africa. In Kenya, the banana serves both as a subsistence crop as well as a cash crop. The production of banana in Kenya is however constrained by viral diseases especially the Banana Streak Disease (BSD) which is caused by the Banana Streak Virus (BSV). Breeding between A and B-genomes containing banana ha...
ABSTRACT Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is largely consumed among various communities in Kenya. However, its productivity is gradually declining due to infections such as common bacterial blight and halo blight. Zanthoxylum gilletii and Markhamia lutea have been used traditionally in the management of various human bacterial pathogens. In addition, plants are inhabited by fungal endophytes that produce bioactive secondary metabolites. This study therefore, was to determine the bioactivit...
ABSTRACT The protozoan hemoflagellate Trypanosoma brucei is the causative agent of African trypanosomosis in humans and nagana in domestic animals. The human disease is a health concern in many African countries. The infection of mammalian-host by African trypanosomes is characterised by an up-regulation of prostaglandin (PG) production in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which modulates the host responses and causes symptoms of the infection. It has been shown that the protozoan ...