Background: Fructose constituting an important part of human diet, was reported to facilitate fat depositing in the abdominal region in case of excessive consumption, therefore increasing the risk of chronic illness more rapidly than expected, and inducing development of various diseases such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension and atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in liver and kidney tissues of high-fructose-fed rats and to determine the role of dietary addition of fructose on inflammation.
Methods: The rats were randomly divided into two groups of 7 rats as control (C) and fructose (F). The fructose group received 30% (v/w) fructose in drinking water for 8 weeks. Serum samples were used for aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and uric acid measurements. The liver and kidney tissues of the rats were washed with 0.9% NaCl for TNF-α, IL-6 and NF-κB measurements.
Results: TNF-α, IL-6 and NF-κB levels in liver tissues were found significantly higher in the fructose group than the control group (p<0.001, p<0.05, p<0.001, respectively). TNF-α, IL-6 and NF-κB levels in the kidney tissue of the fructose group were statistically significantly higher than the control group (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively).
Conclusion: Fructose fed diet increased liver and kidney damage through augmenting NF-κB, TNF-α and IL-6 levels.
Objectives: To determine the incidence and severity of adverse drug reactions among hospitalized patients in a Nigerian teaching hospital using the trigger tool method.
Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.
Setting: The study was conducted in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Nigeria from July to December, 2012.
Participants: Medication charts of discharged patients were reviewed by a healthcare team consisting of one pharmacist, a nurse and a physician.
Intervention and Method: Randomly selected patients medication charts were reviewed using the procedure described in the Institute of Health Improvements (IHI) global trigger tool for measuring adverse events. Twenty minutes were allocated for review of each patient record. Treatment charts with positive trigger(s) were reviewed further by the doctor in the review team to ascertain if adverse reaction(s) did occur. Detected adverse reactions were then categorized and statistically analysed.
Results and Main Outcome Measure(s): From the 120 patients charts randomly selected and reviewed, there were 2173 patient-days. About 473 triggers were identified of which 175 were confirmed to be adverse drug reactions by the review panel. The incidence measures calculated were 145.8 adverse drug reactions per 100 admissions and 80.5 ADRs per 1000 patient-days. A total of 97 patients had at least one ADR during their hospitalization and the proportion of patients’ admissions with an adverse event was 80.8%.
Conclusions: This study identified high incidence of adverse drugs reactions among the hospitalized patients in the teaching hospital. Further research is required to develop strategies towards the incorporation of this technique in the routine healthcare process. This would possibly improve case detection of adverse drug reactions and promote patients safety.
Aim: Increase in blood glucose level has been associated with beta cells destruction which is enhanced by lipid peroxidation and hepatocellular damage. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of oral administration of theophylline on Liver enzymes (ALT, AST and ALP) and Liver histology in alloxan-induced diabetic male wistar rats.
Study Design: This is an experimental study. Thirty healthy male wistar rats weighing between 160-180 g were grouped into five of six animals each (n=6) following the induction hyperglycaemia using alloxan monohydrate and treated for a period of fourteen days (14) as follows; Group 1: (Normoglycaemic) Group 2: Diabetic control, Group 3: Glibenclamide, 5mg/kg, Groups 4 and 5; theophylline 5mg/kg and 10mg/kg respectively. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were taken from all treated groups and sera obtained. Serum levels of ALT, AST and ALP were measured. Liver tissues were also harvested from experimental groups, and histological assessment carried out.
Results: There were no statistically significant differences observed in serum ALP, ALT and AST levels in the theophylline treated groups compared to the diabetic control. The levels of ALP and ALT were however significantly higher (P< 0.05) in the theophylline treated groups than that observed in the glibenclamide treated group. Serum levels of ALP and ALT were significantly lowered (P< 0.05) in the glibenclamide treated group compared to both the diabetic control and the theophylline treated groups. Although less fatty infiltrations and hepatocellular degeneration were observed in the liver tissues of theophylline and glibenclamide treated groups compared to diabetic control, the effect was more in the glibenclamide treated group compared to the theophylline treated groups.
Conclusion: In this study, glibenclamide recorded less hepatotoxic activity by significantly lowering serum liver enzymes; ALP and ALT in contrast to theophylline which showed no significant differences in levels of serum enzymes in alloxan induced hyperglycaemic rats.
Aim: This study aims to evaluate the antagonistic activities of Brevibacillus brevis and Pseudomonas chlororaphis isolated from Rattus norvegicus (Brown rat) nest against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the brown rat’s foot-path soil sample and also on Trichophytonmentagrophytes (interdigitale) ATCC 9533 as a test organism in order to ascertain their antagonistic activities.
Place and Duration of Study: This research was carried out in the Department of Microbiology, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria between November 2015 and May 2016.
Methodology: The isolates B. brevis and P. chlororaphis were isolated and characterized from Rattus norvegicus (Brown rat) nests using standard microbiological techniques. The pure cultures of the isolates were screened for antagonism against the following test organisms: S. aureus, P. aeruginosa obtained from foot-path soil samples and Trichophyton mentagrophytes (interdigitale) ATCC 9533 using in vitro antagonistic assay co-culture technique. Physicochemical analyses of R. norvegicus nest and soil samples were accomplished according to standard analytical methods. Analysis of variance (anova) was performed followed by Duncan multiple range post hoc tests, considered the value p =.05.
Results: The isolate B. brevis exhibited strong antagonism against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa with inhibition zones of 22.13±0.32 mm and 18.20±0.10 mm but had no antagonistic effect on Trichophyton mentagrophytes (interdigitale) ATCC 9533. However, P. chlororaphis showed antagonism against S. aureus and T. mentagrophytes (interdigitale) ATCC 9533 with inhibition zones of 17.50±0.17 mm and 15.13±0.20 mm but had no inhibition against P. aeruginosa. The results of this study revealed the antagonistic activities of B. brevis and P. chlororaphis on the test organisms and the findings from the physicochemical assay showed that the temperature and pH of the Brown rat nest supports optimum growth of microorganisms.
Conclusion: Findings from this research revealed the antagonistic potentials of B. brevis and P. chlororaphis against the test organisms and that Brown rat nests from which these organisms were isolated serve as good reservoirs for microorganisms.
Aim: To investigate the effect of time of collection on the antioxidants values of mistletoes (Viscum album) grown on orange tree.
Methods: Aqueous leaves extracts of different time of harvest of Viscum album were prepared and standard methods were used to determine quantitatively the antioxidants values in the plant extracts.
Results: In the experiments, the total phenol content in aqueous leaves extracts of Viscum album was 19.5840 mg/g, at 6: 00 am, 55.4061 mg/g at 1:00 pm and the value of 86.3682 mg/g was recorded at 7:00 pm. The value of 0.344 mg/g was recorded for flavonoids at 6:00 am while the value of 0.676 mg/g was observed at 1:00 pm and at 7:00 pm it was 1.458 mg/g. The % of inhibition of DPPH content in aqueous leaves extracts of Viscum album was 36.819 mg/g, at 6: 00 am, 49.213 mg/g at 1:00 pm and the value of 61.203 mg/g was recorded at 7:00 pm. The antioxidants values were significant (P =0.05) when compared time of plants collection.
Conclusion: The results showed that the antioxidants values depend on the time of collection which was maximum when the leaves were obtained at dawn. It is therefore advisable that the use of this extract in herbal medicine should be encouraged and the plant should be plucked at dawn to maximise the antioxidants potential of the mistletoes.
