Olufunsho Awodele

Background : Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae) is an important herb in the traditional African and Ayurvedic medicines. The stem barks are used in the treatment of hypertension, insomnia, tumour, depression, rheumatism and as a tonic. This study was carried out to investigate antidepressant- and anxiolytic-like effect of the hydroethanol stem bark extract of M. indica (HeMI) in mice. Methods : HeMI (12.5–100 mg/kg, p.o.) was administered 1 h before subjecting the animal to the forced swim test (FST), tail suspension test (TST) and elevated plus maze tests (EPM). Results : HeMI (12.5–100 mg/kg, p.o.) treatment produced significant reduction in immobility time [F(6.56)=8.35, pConclusions : Findings from this study showed antidepressant-like effect of M. indica through interaction with 5-HT ₂ receptor, α ₂ -adrenoceptor and dopamine D ₂ -receptors. Also, an anxiolytic-like effect through its affinity for 5-HT ₂ and benzodiazepine receptors. Hence, M. indica could be a potential phytotherapeutic agent in the treatment of mixed anxiety-depressive illness.

Unripe fruit of Annona muricata Linn. (Annonaceae) (soursop) is used in traditional African medicine for the treatment of neuralgia, rheumatism, and arthritic pain. This study sought to investigate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of lyophilized fruit extract of Annona muricata (AM) in rodents. The analgesic activity was evaluated using the mouse writhing, formalin, and hot-plate tests while the anti-inflammatory action was investigated using the carrageenan-induced rat paw edema and xylene-induced ear edema tests. Pretreatment with AM (50, 100, and 200 mg/kg, p.o.) produced dose-dependent ( P <.001) inhibition of writhes and formalin-induced pain in the late phase. AM and morphine produced time-course increase in pain threshold in hot-plate test. However, the analgesic effect elicited by AM was reversed ( P <.05) by naloxone pretreatment. Similarly, the time-dependent increase in paw circumference induced by carrageenan was inhibited by AM treatment with peak effect (0.23±0.10 cm; P< .001, 200 mg/kg; 6 h), which was comparatively similar to that of diclofenac treated. Further, the xylene-induced ear edema was significantly reduced by AM (50 or 100 mg/kg) pretreatment; however, the anti-inflammatory effect elicited by AM was prevented by pretreatment of mice with N ^G -nitro- l -arginine (20 mg/kg, i.p., nitric-oxide synthase inhibitor) 15 min before AM (200 mg/kg, p.o.). The in vitro cyclooxygenase assay also showed that AM produced concentration-dependent inhibition of both cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2 activity by 39.44%±0.05% and 55.71%±0.12%, respectively, at 100 μg/mL. In conclusion, A. muricata possesses analgesic effect through interaction with opioidergic pathway and anti-inflammatory property through inhibition of chemical mediators of inflammation.

Background: Strophanthus hispidus DC (Apocynaceae) is a medicinal plant widely used in traditional African medicine in the treatment of rheumatic afflictions, ulcer, conjunctivitis, leprosy and skin diseases. This study sought to investigate the antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antiulcer properties of the ethanol root extract of S. hispidus. Methods: Antinociceptive activity was evaluated using acetic acid-induced writhing and formalin tests in mice. The carrageenan- and egg albumin-induced rat paw edema tests were used to investigate the anti-inflammatory actions, whereas the antiulcer activity was investigated using ethanol-, HCl- and pyloric ligation-induced gastric ulcer models in rats. Results: S. hispidus [100–800 mg/kg orally (po)] produced significant (pS. hispidus significantly (pS. hispidus (25–800 mg/kg po) caused significant (pS. hispidus (100–800 mg/kg) showed potent antiulcer activity with respective peak effects of 96% (ethanol-induced), 99% (HCl-induced) and 70.60% inhibition of ulcer. Conclusions : The findings in this study suggest that the ethanol root extract of S. hispidus possesses antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and antiulcerogenic activities. This justifies the use of the extract in folklore medicine for the treatment of ulcer and inflammatory disorders.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the world's greatest infectious killer of women of reproductive age and the leading cause of death among people with HIV/AIDS. The major problem militating against the management of tuberculosis is the lack of compliance to medication by the infected patients as a result of multidrug needed to be taking daily leading to resistance. Occurrences of hepatic toxicity, teratogenicity, sperm quality damage, haematotoxicity and meningeal congestion of individual anti-tuberculous agents have been reported. The study is aimed to determine the reproductive and haematological toxicity of combined antituberculous agents and the modulatory role of antioxidants using animal model. Fifty rats (10 per group) were randomly allotted to five groups, consisting of the control, the fixed dose combined anti TB agents treated group, the fixed dose combined anti TB agents plus vitamin C treated group, the fixed dose combined anti TB agents plus vitamin E treated group and the fixed dose combined anti TB agents plus vitamin C plus vitamin E treated group. Therapeutic doses of the fixed dose combined anti TB agents (25 mg/kg/day), vitamin E (5 mg/kg) and vitamin C (8 mg/kg) were administered to the animals via oral gavage, daily over 28 days. After 28days, rats were sacrificed for internal macroscopic and histological examination of the organs, sperm analysis and haematological investigations were carried out. The results showed a significant increase (p < or = 0.05) in the levels of white blood cells (WBC), red blood cell (RBC) and haemoglobin (HB) of the combined anti-TB plus vitamins C or E treated groups compared with combined anti-TB treated group alone (56.34 +/- 0.11) that decreased the haematological parameters. A significant decrease (p < or = 0.05) in the sperm counts (22.26 +/- 0.02; 35.40 +/- 0.02) and motility (77.03 +/- 0.02; 94.50 +/- 0.01) of the combined anti-TB treated rats as compared with the control group were observed. The combined anti-TB plus vitamin C treated rats demonstrated a significant increase (p < or = 0.05) in the sperm motility (90.23 +/- 0.01) as compared with the control group. There was also a remarkable decrease in the abnormal morphology of the sperm in the combined anti-TB plus vitamins E and C treated rats (0.05 +/- 0.02) as compared with the combined anti-TB group alone (1.10 +/- 0.02). Vitamins C and E positively modulated the sperm quality and haematological damage produced by the Fixed Dose Combined Anti-Tuberculous agents.

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing use of herbal products and herbal medicines globally with the belief that herbal medicines are always ‘safe’ and carry no risk because they are from natural sources. However, there are concerns regarding medicinal p

Abstract: Traditional herbal remedies have been used to treat many ailments in Nigeria but the safety of herbal remedies has been the major concerns to many people especially when the chemical constituents of the products are not known. This study is therefore designed to evaluate the prevalence of use of complementary drugs with antiretroviral (ARV) therapy and possible treatment outcome of the concurrent utilization of these therapeutic agents. A descriptive crosssectional survey of 354 HIV patients attending APIN clinics in LUTH using a consecutive sampling technique was used. There was also correlation of the data obtained from the patients with their clinical case notes. Results showed that only 8.2 % of the respondents’ used herbal medicine concurrently with ARV therapy. Ninety percent of the participants were on a two nucleoside and one non-nucleoside based ARV therapy. The most common regimen (55%) was Zidovudine/lamivudine/Nevirapine fixed dose combination while 10% use a protease inhibitor based regimen. The commonly herbal drugs used ranges from Jobelyn [Sorghum bicolor plant leaves (13.8%)], Garlic [Allicin, ϒ-glutamyl- (s)-ally-L-Cysteine] (10.3%), Ginger [Essential oil] (17.2%) and Aloe vera [Hydroxyanthracene derivatives expressed as Barbaloin] (10.3%). The major reason for the commencement of herbal medicine is the perception that the medicine will boost their immunity (65.5%). However, there was a marginal improvement though not significant (p ≥ 0.05) in the CD4 counts (489.8 ± 195.2; 419.1 ± 236.2) and viral load (5117.8 ± 26092.0; 31136.7 ± 197954.6) of HIV patients on herbal drugs compared to those who are not on herbal drugs. Herbal medicines have potentials to interact with ARVs and thus result in adverse reactions and possibly therapeutic failure. There is need for thorough investigation of the pharmacological action of these herbal medicines in HIV treatment taking into consideration their pharmacokinetic and toxicological profile.

Background: The herbal preparation DAS-77, used for the treatment of various ailments in Nigeria, contains the milled bark ofMangifera indicaL. and root ofCarica papayaL. Toxicological assessment of the preparation was carried out in this study.Methods: In the acute toxicity study, DAS-77 was administered to micep.o.up to 20 g/kg in divided doses andi.p.at 250–3000 mg/kg. Mortality within 24 h was recorded. In the chronic toxicity study, rats were treatedp.o.for 90 days at doses of 80, 400 (therapeutic dose, TD) and 2000 mg/kg. By 90 days, animals were sacrificed and blood samples collected for hematological and biochemical analysis. Organs were harvested for weight determination, antioxidants and histopathological assessments.Results: DAS-77 did not produce any lethality administeredp.o.up to 20 g/kg in divided doses but thei.p.LD₅₀was 1122.0 mg/kg. At TD, DAS-77 produced significant (p < 0.05) reductions in body weight, food intake and K⁺, and increases in ovary weight, neutrophils and HDL, which were reversible. Histopathological presentations were generally normal. Effects at the other doses were comparable to those at TD except for reversible increases in antioxidants in the liver, kidney and testes, and sperm abnormality, and reductions in liver enzymes, sperm motility and count.Conclusions: Findings in this study revealed that DAS-77 is relatively safe with the potential for enhancingin vivoantioxidant activity. However, possibly reversible side-effects include electrolyte imbalance and sterility in males.

Some medicinal plants have been shown to have antimalarial activity when used as combination therapy. Gossypium barbadense has been used by herbal medicine practitioners in combination with other herbs, and as a monotherapy in the treatment of malarial infection. The study was, therefore, aimed at evaluating the antimalarial effect of the aqueous leaf extract of G. barbadense using mice infected with P. berghei. The suppressive effect was evaluated by administering 25 mice divided into five groups with 250, 500, and 1,000 mg/kg of aqueous leaf extract of G. barbadense, 5 mg/kg of chloroquine, and 10 mL/kg of distilled water, respectively, starting from the day of inoculation with P. berghei for four days. The curative effect was evaluated by administering 25 mice divided into five groups as above with treatment starting 72 h post inoculation with P. berghei. The results indicate that the aqueous leaf extract of G. barbadense, when used alone as monotherapy, has a non-significant (P ≥ 0.05) but slight suppressive antimalarial activity (23%) when compared with that of chloroquine (100%). The curative model also revealed that aqueous leaf extract of G. barbadense showed no significant antimalarial activity. It can be concluded that the use of aqueous leaf extract of G. barbadense as monotherapy for malaria has no significant therapeutic effect. Therefore, it is not recommended to be used alone to manage malaria infection as practiced by some herbal medicine practitioners.

With the current population of Nigeria and the limited number of trained health care providers, PMVs are inevitable and highly needed especially in the rural areas for the supply of drugs in treating minor illnesses. Thus, pharmacovigilance (PVG) act

Due to the risks of disease progression and transmission to the newborn, treatment of tuberculosis is often pursued during pregnancy and fixed-dose combined antituberculous agents have been found to be beneficial. Unfortunately, there is paucity of data on the safety of the fixed-dose combined antituberculous drugs during pregnancy. This study intends to assess the teratogenic effect of fixed-dose combined antituberculous drugs on the organogenesis stage of fetal development and also investigate the possible roles of vitamin C in modulating the teratogenic effects of these agents on the fetus using animal model. Pregnant rats were divided into 3 groups with 12 animals per group: group 1 received distilled water (10mL/kg) orally; group 2 received 51.4mg/kg/day of fixed-dose combined antituberculous agents orally; group 3 received 51.4mg/kg/day of fixed-dose combined antituberculous agents plus vitamin C (10mg/kg/day) orally. Six rats in each group were randomly selected and sacrificed on day 20 by cervical dislocation prior to day 21 of gestation, and the foetuses were harvested through abdominal incision for physical examination. Blood samples were collected from the 1st filial rats of the remaining six animals for biochemical and hematological examination. The liver, kidney, heart, and brain of all the sacrificed animals were used for histopathological examination. There were significant (𝑃≤0.05) low birth weights of the foetuses of the animals that were treated with fixed-dose combined antituberculous agents. The haematological parameters also revealed a reduction in the platelets counts and neutrophiles at the first filial generation. Significant (𝑃≤0.05) elevations in the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in the foetuses of the animals treated with fixed-dose combined antituberculous agents were also observed. However, the combination of vitamin C with fixed-dose combined antituberculous agents significantly (𝑃≤0.05) reduced the level of AST. Fixed-dose combined antituberculous agents have teratogenic potential as shown in low birth weight and mild liver damage in the first filial of the treated animals. As much as it is imminent to treat TB patients in pregnancy, there is need to always exercise caution and clinically weigh the risk-benefit ratio.