ABSTRACT Animal African Trypanosomiasis (AAT) greatly affects livestock production in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana prevalence of AAT is estimated to range between 5 – 50%. Studies have reported serum biochemical aberrations and variability in cytokine profiles in animals during infection. However, information regarding the biochemical parameters and cytokine profiles associated with natural infections are limited. This study was therefore aimed at establishing the levels of serum biochemica...
ABSTRACT Changes in oxidative stress parameters, lipid profile, atherogenic predictor indices, and anthropometrics of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) subjects attending Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital (COOUTH) Awka, were assessed using standard methods. Demographic data of the T2DM patients were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire.The subjects included willingly consented 60 (30 males and 30 females) T2DM patients and 40 (20 males and 20 females) appar...
ABSTRACT Three multimix complementary diets were prepared from local foodstuffs i.e. maize (Zea mays), acha grain (Digitaria exilis) rice (Sativa oryza), sorghum (Sorgum bicolar), millet (Pennisatum typhoides), groundnut (Arachis hypogea), bambaranut (V-oadzeia subterranea), sesame (Sesamun indicum), carrots (Daucas carota), crayfish (Macrobrachuim Sp), garden egg (Solanum incanum), palm oil (Elaeis guinensis) and table salt (NaCl). The formulated diets were subjected to biochemical analysis...
ABSTRACT The industrialization of our society, including drilling for oil, mining of coal and minerals has led to increasing production of xenobiotic and natural chemical substances. Continual releases of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from mining and drilling activities leads to their deposition in coastal environments and ultimately bioaccumulation in plants and animals, creating the danger of toxicity. PAH are deemed to be carcinogenic, mutagenic and teratogenic. In Ghana, oil dri...
ABSTRACT Background Acute febrile illness (AFI) is responsible for a significant number of childhood mortality and morbidity and remains a common clinical presentation at most hospitals. Lack of appropriate screening techniques present a challenge in identifying potential pathogens associated with AFI. This study investigated the microbial etiology of AFI among febrile children, evaluated the potential use of inflammatory mediators as biomarkers of fever, and developed a web-based model to pr...
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...