ABSTRACT Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is an inflammation of the intestinal mucosa and is characterised by the onset of diarrhoea with or without vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. Rotaviruses are the leading cause of AGE in infants and young children resulting in severe dehydration, which can eventually lead to hospitalisation and death. In Ghana, diarrhoea is implicated in the death of about 11% of all children under the age of 5 years, with rotavirus being the most responsible causative a...
ABSTRACT African trypanosomiasis still remains a lethal disease to both human and livestock. The disease persists due to limited drug availability, toxicity and emergence of drug resistance, hence the need to provide alternative forms of therapy. Studies have shown that the iron chelator deferoxamine exhibited anti-trypanosomal effects by inhibiting cell growth and interfering with the activity of some iron dependent enzymes. In this study, the in vitro effects of different phenolic acids, w...
ABSTRACT Warfarin is the most commonly prescribed oral anticoagulant drug for reducing thromboembolic events that often give rise to stroke, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, or serious coronary malfunctions. Warfarin has a narrow therapeutic/toxic ratio and genetic factors have been associated with inter-individual variability in warfarin dose / response in different ethnic populations. The initiation of this drug has been associated with one of the highest adverse event rates for a...
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-...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the antibiotic resistance and clonal lineage of Salmonella isolated from patients suspected of suffering from typhoid fever and the susceptibility of these Salmonella strains to “Mist Enterica”, a herbal preparation used at the Centre for Scientific Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM) out-patients’ department, Mampong-Akwapim, Ghana, to treat typhoid fever. Other strains of Salmonella isolated from food sources were also included in...
ABSTRACT viii Bacteriophages were isolated from sewage samples obtained from the Tema Sewage Disposal Plant and the Legon vicinity using the indicator bacteria strains Shigella dysenteriae. Salmonella tvohi. Escherichia cull, and Salmpneila fir.P.UP__D.. Ten phages were isolated and partially characterized by electron microscopy, DNA fingerprinting and protein profiles by SDS-PAGE. The relatedness of the phages was determined by immunological studies. Some of the phages were screened for thei...
ABSTRACT Desmodium adscendens is used as prophylaxis in asthma. Earlier work in this laboratory on the scientific basis for the therapeutic action of the plant indicated that both the aqueous and alcoholic extracts were anti-anaphylactic in vitro. Since extracts of the plant are taken orally by asthmatic patients, the present work was carried out to investigate the in vivo effects of both alcoholic and aqueous extracts of D. adscendens on anaphylaxis. The methods used were the contraction of ...
ABSTRACT The major objective of this work was to establish an in vitro assay system for evaluating Ocimum canum, an antidiabetic plants, using insulin release from isolated pancreatic p-islet cells of rats. An in vivo assay was carried out to confirm the previous work by Hogarh (1996) indicating the anti-diabetic activity of 0. canum. The effect of the aqueous extract of fresh leaves of 0. canum on lipid profile of genetically diabetic mice and their lean littermates was also evaluated. In vi...
ABSTRACT Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a leading cause of chronic liver disease among sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. Disease progression has been implicated with circulating genotypes of HCV. Determination of RNA and genotypes of HCV in sickle cell disease patients may give an indication of their contribution to the observed clinical manifestations and disease progression which will inform appropriate clinical management. Aim: This study sought to identify and characte...
ABSTRACT V Yeast mating type locus gene alpha2 (MATa2), Yeast G protein complementing gene ( YGC1) and minichromosome maintenance gene (M C M 1) have been identified by isolation of plasmids that are able to complement or suppress a gpa1::HIS3 mutation. MATa2 and YGC1 rescue both MATa and M A Ta-gpa1::HIS3 haploid cell types whereas MCM1 complements only MATa gpal::HIS3 cell type. MATa2 is known to be a general repressor and a determinant of both haploid and diploid cell types. MCM1 is known ...
ABSTRACT Background: Haptoglobin (Hp), an acute phase glycoprotein with antioxidant, antiinflammatory and immune-modulatory functions may be an excellent candidate gene to investigate human longevity. Human Hp is polymorphic and these polymorphisms have been associated with different functional capacities of the proteins expressed as a result of their distinct biochemical and biophysical properties. Aim: To determine the possible role of haptoglobin genotypes as genetic markers for longevity....
ABSTRACT Three non-chemical conditions of preservation, storage at room temperature (that is benchtop), in a freezer and at simulated herbarium were examined to determine which is most suitable for the preservation of cowpea leaves for molecular studies. Under each storage condition, the effect of duration of storage and the difference in leaf age (that is flush or mature) on DNA yield and purity were assessed. Periodically, DNA was extracted from both flush and mature leaf samples from 6 cow...
ABSTRACT Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for about 28% of the estimated 9.6 million of all notified tuberculosis (TB) cases in 2014. Due to high incidence of TB caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in developing countries, TB control activities have centered on MTBC to the neglect of non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections. MTBC and NTM infections differ clinically, however, microscopy which is the mainstay of TB diagnosis in Ghana cannot distinguish between them. The inabi...
A B S T R A C T The baseline levels of hepatic microsomal proteins of cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase enzyme complex of two economically important tilapia species, Oreochromis! niloticus and Seratherodon. galilaeus. were measured and compared with the levels of the enzyme in O. niloticus injected with J5-naphthoflavone (fl-NF) a classical inducer of cytochrome P-4501A isozyme, and O. niloticus exposed to effluents from Akosombo Textiles Limited (ATL-E). This was done in order to find out if th...
ABSTRACT The HIV/AIDS pandemic is still a global health issue despite the many concerted efforts put in by various stakeholders to curtail it. It has become clear however that understanding the epidemiology of the highly variant virus is key in eliminating it. It has been shown that the subtype of infecting HIV-1 plays a crucial role in disease progression among other thing. It is therefore important to continually monitor the circulating HIV-1 subtypes in the population. Equally important, ...