Journal of Advances in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

The recent study was aimed to estimate the prevalence and develop the relationship of the clinical history like diabetes, cardiac disease and vitamin D deficiency and obesity and their impact on metabolic disorders for adolescent residing near Dawadmi and Shaqra region. Two hundred samples (142 Females & 58 Males) were utilized in the study with an age ranging 13-20 and distributed the questionnaire to record the responses. The results exhibited that 38% subjects responded positively for clinical history with cardiac disease, while 70.5 and 47% responded positively for the clinical history with diabetes and vitamin D deficiency. The clinical history with diabetes, cardiac disease and vitamin D deficiency was observed the major risk factors acting in descending order diabetes-cardiac disease-vitamin D deficiency. 

Aim of the Study: This study aimed at evaluating the adverse drug effects on some biochemical parameters of anti-tuberculosis drugs among patients with primary tuberculosis infection.

Study Design: Non-probability (purposive) sampling technique was employed in this study. 

Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out at the Chest Clinic unit of the Tuberculosis and Leprosy referral Hospital, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. This study was conducted from July, 2017 to April, 2018.

Methodology: Tuberculosis patients were selected using standard methods for clinical diagnosis and confirmed by laboratory analysis for Mycobacterium tuberculosis using acid fast bacilli as preliminary and Gene-Xpert^® as confirmatory test.  A total of 44 tuberculosis patients met the study inclusion and exclusion criteria and completed the study at the Tuberculosis and Leprosy Referral Hospital Yenegoa, Bayelsa State. Eligible patients were administered with appropriate daily dose of (rifampicin-150 mg, isoniazid-75 mg, pyrazinamide-400mg and ethambutol-275 mg) single drug combination for two months based on bodyweight. Blood was collected and evaluated for liver enzymes, Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Alanine transaminase (ALT), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST); Total proteins, Bilirubin and Cholesterol at baseline, week 4 and week 8. Data were descriptively analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS 21).

Results: Treatment in the intensive therapy phase resulted in significant increase of alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase levels (P=0.5). There was also significant decrease in total cholesterol and albumin (P=0.5). There were no significant changes in aspartate aminotransferase, total protein and total bilirubin.

Conclusion: The study results showed changes in some biochemical parameters but were not severe enough to warrant discontinuation of therapy.

Kola nut (Kola nitida, Malvaceae) is one of the nuts consumed for socio-cultural reasons in West Africa sub-region and it has been used in Western African and Anglo-American herbal medicine as an antidepressant. The aim of this study was to evaluate the beneficial and adverse effect of kola nut consumption on the oral cavity.

This was a cross sectional survey conducted on Kola nuts consumers using a qualitative in-vitro analytical phyto-chemical screening and microbiological activity testing of the Kola nut samples.

One hundred and two volunteers participated in the study that was made up of 66(64.4 %) males and 36(35.3%) of females. Kola nuts consumers had the age of participants ranging between 20 to 60 years and derived from all social classes of the West African community. There was a high prevalence of dental attrition 95(93.3 %), arrested caries 95(93.3 %), and extrinsic stains 91(90 %). The DMFT (Decayed/Missing/Filled Teeth) score was 4.7.

The phytochemical screening of Kola nut showed the presence of phenol, tannin, flavonoids, alkaloids, anthocyanin, sterol, and antraquinone. Methanol extracts of Kola nitida showed no activity against the isolates of Candida spp. But there was less activity against Streptococcus spp and an average activity against Actinomycetes and isolate of Lactobacillus spp respectively.

 Kolanut exhibited some degree of remineralization oral hard tissues, causing esthetic problems (dental staining) and non-carious dental tooth wear (attrition). Kola nut inhibited the growth of cariogenic bacteria and did not inhibit the growth of Candida albicans. Studies on intra-oral activities needs some further investigations to establish its importance to dental oral care. Results showed that extract of Kola nitida had antibacterial effects by inhibiting the growth of cariogenic bacteria of the mouth at certain level of concentration. The poor oral health seeking behaviours of participants were observed as factors contributing to a poor oral hygiene status and consequently the impairment of oral health of the kola nut consumers.

Disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi has continued to incrementally spread Lyme disease throughout the United States and has become the concern of the general population’s health. Ixodes ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, that come in contact with any area of the human body, typically stay attached for a period of 36-48 hours in order for them to completely transfer the bacteria into the host. The symptoms manifested typically inhabit the nervous system, musculoskeletal system and the cardiovascular system. New methods in the diagnostic techniques have been in ongoing research including the SYBR Green I/PI assay which quantifies living bacteria after dosage completion along with molecular testing which uses PCR of synovial fluid, blood, tissue biopsy, and cerebrospinal fluid to detect for an imbalance in OspA and its respective chromosomal targets. Current diagnostic measures of ELISA and Western blot are not reliable due to individuals vaccinated with Lymerix testing positive regardless of infection because it is insensitive to early detection, creates false positives and cannot detect chronic Lyme after treatment

Background: Although lipids have been regarded as a passive component to constitute biomembranes, they can also play an important role in modulation of the activity or function of membrane-embedded proteins like receptors. Membrane lipids are presumed to be one of additional sites of action for receptor-acting drugs because their broad pharmacological spectra are not necessarily interpretable by the direct action on receptors. In order to obtain novel insights into the drug target and mechanism, we reviewed the membrane interactivity of different classes of drugs to act on representative receptors.

Methods: A search of the scientific articles published between 1979 and 2018 was carried out by using PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar and ACS Publications. The relevant research papers published in recognized international journals and on-line journals in English were preferred, but the review articles of specific importance were also included, although non-English language citations were excluded. Collected articles were reviewed by title, abstract and text for relevance with preference to more recent publications.

Results: Results of the literature search indicate that membrane interactivity is shared by various drugs that act on α- and β-adrenergic, muscarinic and nicotinic acetylcholine, γ-aminobutyric acid type A, N-methyl-D-aspartate, opioid and transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 receptors. These receptor agonists and antagonists not only interact with receptor proteins but also would structure-specifically interact with membrane lipids to affect receptors by modifying the lipid bilayer environments surrounding them with the resultant conformational change of receptor proteins.

Conclusion: The structure-specific membrane interaction is pharmacologically contributable to diverse effects of receptor-acting drugs.