Journal of Advances in Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Citrullus lanatus thumb (Cucurbitaceae) commonly called watermelon is widely consumed in this part of the world as food and medicine. This study was carried out to examine the effect of methanolic extract of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) rind on prednisolone suppressed immunity in male wistar rats. A total of 20 male wistar rats weighing 150-294g were used in 4 groups with five rats each. Group 1, the control group was given distilled water and feed, Group 2 was given 200 mg/kg body weight of methanolic extract of watermelon rind, Group 3 rats were given 2.5 mg/kg body weight of prednisolone and Group 4 rats were given 2.5 mg/kg body weight of prednisolone and 200 mg/kg body weight of methanolic extract of watermelon rind. Prednisolone and the methanolic extract of watermelon rind were administered orally for a period of 30 days. Blood samples were collected by cardio puncture from the rats for white blood cell (WBC), lymphocyte, and granulocyte and monocyte counts at the end of the experiment.  The data were statistically analysed using one-way ANOVA (Analysis of variance). Data were considered significant at p<0.05. The results obtained showed that methanolic extract of watermelon rind caused a significant increasen in immune function of rats when compared with the control and immune suppressed rats.

Bryophyllum pinnatum Lam. (Crassulaceae) called ‘Oda-opue’ in Igbo and ‘Abamoda’ in Yoruba are widely used as food and as medicines in traditional medical practice. They are found widely in tropical Africa, America, India and China. This study investigated the inhibitory effect of the hydro-ethanol leaf extract on inflammatory biomarkers. The Cotton Pellet Induced Granuloma method was used in the study. The plant extract significantly inhibited the inflammatory biomarkers, cyclooxygenases 1 and 2, interleukins 1β and 6, and prostaglandin E2, in a dose dependent manner indicating a reduction of inflammation in the rats. The study showed that B. pinnatum leaf extract possess a rich content of bioactive compounds which could be synthesized to produce new plant-based product to fight inflammatory disorders with fewer side effects.

Background: Angiohemophilia (VWD) is a common human inherited disease where the parent carrying the gene may or may not be symptomatic. VWD is an illness of the blood that does not coagulate correctly. Blood contains numerous proteins to stop the bleeding of the body. Von Willebrand factor VWF is one of these proteins.

Aim: Current study was planned to classify the prevalence of VWD between 2014 and 2019 in Nineveh province.

Materials and Methods: The study included 829 patients, 365 of which were carriers of one or more hemophilia factors deficiency. Special Staco kit was used for detecting VWF.

Results: Thirty out of 365 patients were diagnosed with VWD. The association between VWD and other associated variables is not significant. An acceptable value was found between age and blood type.

Conclusion: The origins of families that hold the disease mutant gene must be tracked, births taken and infection mitigation techniques used in these families established. Do not neglect the value of the sort of blood that affects the VWD directly.

Back-ground and Objectives: The study’s focus is to investigate the effects of Vernonia amygdalina on the metabolic activities of Cytochrome P₄₅₀ 3A4 and 2D6 in vivo. The assessment was based on CYP2D6-mediated O-demethylation and CYP3A4-mediated N-demethylation of dextromethorphan (DEX) to Dextrorphan (DOR) and 3-methoxymorphinan (3-MM), respectively.

Methods: The clinical study followed a two-phase cross over study with two weeks washout period. Volunteers received a single oral dose of DEX 30 mg alone in phase 1 and along with last dose of V. amygdalina leaf powder in phase 2. 8-hour urine samples were collected in both phases post-administration of DEX and analyzed using HPLC-UV. The chromatographic separation of DEX, DOR, 3-MM, and Imatinib was achieved on a C18 column. The analytes were eluted with a gradient elution consisting of 50mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH 5)-acetonitrile at a 1 mL/min flow rate, and detected at 280 nm. Activities of the enzymes investigated were evaluated using the urinary metabolic ratios of DEX:DOR and DEX:3-MM.

Results: Median (interquartile range) values for the metabolic ratios of DEX:DOR was 0.032 (0.028-0.246) and 0.029 (0.018-0.061) for phases with and without V. amygdalina respectively, while the average median values for DEX:3MM was 5.087 (3.692-71.420) and 5.609 (3.093-19.197) for phases with and without V. amygdalina respectively. However, the differences between both phases were not significant for both isoenzymes.

Conclusion: V. amygdalina does not significantly affect the activities of CYP2D6 and CYP3A4 In vivo, which indicates that it has minimal potential to interact with the substrates of both isoenzymes.

Plant mediated fabrication of nanoparticles and nanomaterials are gaining momentum as it is eco-friendly and cost-effective. In the present study, we synthesis of Silver nanoparticles using aqueous extract of  Quercus infectoria nuts and Daucus carota subsp sativum leaves. The surface plasma resonance at 417 and 450 nm for Q. infectoria and D. carota respectively confirmed the formation of AgNPs. Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) confirmed the spherical shape of the nanoparticles, which had an average size of 67.5 nm and 49.2 nm for Q. infectoria nanoparticles (QAgNPs)and D. carota nanoparticles (DAgNPs). The elemental composition by Energy-Dispersive X-ray analysis of the nanoparticle showed an atomic percentage of silver as 73.64 % and 75.93% for Q. infectoria and D. carota.FT- IR analysis of the plant extracts and synthesized silver nanoparticles showed the presence of various functional groups. The total antioxidant activity of QAgNPs was 81.18% and that of DAgNPs was 73.36%. The QAgNPs and DAgNPs exhibited antibacterial activity against B. subtilis, E. coli and S. aureus. The percentage of cell viability for QAgNPs and DAgNPs assessed using HeLa cells was 21.1% and 6% respectively.