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MINERAL COMPOSITION AND NUTRITIVE ANALYSIS OF BULBINE ABYSSINICA A. RICH. USED IN THE TREATMENT OF INFECTIONS AND COMPLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH DIABETES MELLITUS IN THE EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA
Get PDFBackground: B. abyssinica is a succulent member of the genus Bulbine (Asphodelaceae). It occurs from the Eastern Cape, through Swaziland and further north to Ethiopia. The species is used in traditional medicine to treat rheumatism, dysentery, bilharzia, cracked lips and diabetes. The tea leaf is used to treat cough, vaginal and bladder problems. Whereas B. abyssinica has ethno medicinal value, not much data concerning its phytonutrient, macro and micro element composition can be found in literature.
Materials and Methods: Therefore, the present study was undertaken to determine the nutritional quantitative composition of the plant using standard procedures.
Results: The proximate analysis revealed the carbohydrate, crude fibre, moisture, ash, crude protein and crude fat contents as 74.8%, 8.9%, 8.8%, 8%, 7.7% and 0.6%, respectively. The species showed high levels of oxalates and phytic acids, moderate levels of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins and phenols, while tannins were in low levels. Vitamin A, C and E contents were 12, 12.3 and 22.1 mg/100g, respectively. Amongst the mineral elements investigated, potassium and calcium were in high levels. Magnesium, iron, sodium, aluminium and phosphorus were moderately present, while manganese, zinc and copper where in low amounts. These vitamins and mineral elements were within their recommended daily allowance in humans.
Conclusion: The amount of these phytochemicals suggests the plant can serve as nutritional supplements which are vital in maintaining good health status. These findings also suggest the potential role of B. abyssinica in the treatment of infections and some chronic diseases, especially diabetes mellitus
ANTIHYPERTENSIVE ACTIVITY OF QUINOA (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) PROTEIN HYDROLYSATES
Get PDFBackground: Nowadays, there has been an increase in the number of studies focused on the search for bioactive
compounds produced by hydrolytic reactions from natural sources, such as the Quinoa grain, which represents an
interesting agro-alimentary source that can have a beneficial influence on health, specifically antihypertensive potential. For
this reason, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the antihypertensive activity of the protein hydrolysates obtained of
Quinoa, which results important at the time to consider the incorporation of such peptides in the design of functional foods.
Materials and Methods: Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) seeds were ground and the obtained flour was degreased
and the protein isolate was obtained by isoelectric precipitation. The protein isolate was enzymatically hydrolyzed with
Alcalase® and Flavourzyme® and the antihypertensive effect of peptides against angiotensin converting enzyme was
evaluate using a mixture of 50 μL of sample, 50 μL of ACE working solution, 200 μL of substrate working solution and the
fluorescence was determined with a microplate fluorometer following these characteristics: λ (excitation) = 355-375 nm; λ
(emission) = 400-430 nm.
Results: Peptides obtained using Alcalase® (protein content= 72.13%; DH= 31.22%) showed the highest inhibitory
activity against the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), close to 88%.
Conclusion: The Quinoa protein hydrolysates can be considered as a new agri-food source to be incorporated in the
elaboration of functional foods with antihypertensive potential
ANTI-PROLIFERATIVE ACTIVITIES OF THE AQUEOUS ROOT EXTRACT OF DIANTHUS THUNBERGII SS HOOPER (CARYOPHYLLACEAE)
Get PDFBackground: The roots of Dianthus thunbergii SS Hooper are used traditionally in South Africa for the treatment of
diabetes, wounds, colic, chest complaints and cancer. This study was aimed at investigating the potential anti-proliferative
activities of the D. thunbergii in mammalian cancer cell lines.
Materials and Methods: Aqueous and ethanol extracts of D. thunbergii were tested in vitro on two cancer cell lines:
human hepato-cellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells and murine insulinoma (INS-1) cells using the 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-
yl) 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and crystal violet cell viability assays, as well as live-cell fluorescence imaging
microscopy. A tentative profiling of the aqueous extract was also carried out using liquid chromatography-mass
spectrometry (LC-MS).
Results: The aqueous extract (50-200μg/ml) exhibited significant (
INCREASED APOPTOSIS SKULL OF PUPS BORN TO TOXOPLASMA GONDII-INFECTED MICE ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED EXPRESSION OF INTERFERON GAMMA, BUT NOT TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALFA
Get PDFBacground: Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular obligate protozoan parasite that infects most warm-blooded animals including humans. It can cause congenital infection with clinical symptoms ranging from mild to severe including microcephaly. At the cellular level, infection T. gondii causes apoptosis in some tissues and it is induced by proinflammatory cytokines, such as IFN-γ and TNF-α. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IFN-γ) to apoptosis skull of newborn from T. gondii-infected mice.
Materials and Methods: Twenty pregnant mice were divided into two groups. The first group was the control group which was not infected with T. gondii tachizoites. The second group was the infected mice, which was infected with T. gondii tachizoites on the day 11.5 of gestation. All mice were cared until delivery. Subsequenly, pups of the mice were sacrificed and their skullcap tissues were taken for histological preparation. The tissues were stained by TUNEL Assay and IHC. Observed variables were apoptotic index and the percentage of skull cell expressing TNF-α and IFN-γ. Data were analyzed with t-test and regression.
Results: Compared to the control group, the skull of the pups born to T. gondii-infected mice showed that the number of apoptotic index and percentage of expressing TNF-α and IFN-γ cells were higher than the control group. There is no correlation between increasing expression of TNF-α and apoptosis skull of pups. However, an increasing expression of IFN-γ affected the increased apoptosis of skull pups born to T.gondii-infected mice.
Conclusion: Congenital toxoplasmosis in mice increased apoptotic index of skull and the apoptosis of skull associated with increasing expression of IFN-γ, but not associated with increasing expression of TNF-α
SEROPREVALENCE AND RISK FACTOR OF TOXOPLASMOSIS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS REFERRED TO GRHASIA PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, YOGYAKARTA, INDONESIA
Get PDFBackground: Toxoplasmosis is an infectious disease caused by protozoan parasite called Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite belong to phylum Apicomplexa, is an obligate parasite in mammals. The active proliferating trophozoites or tachyzoites are usually seen in the acute stage of infection, while the resting bradyzoites formed tissue cysts are primary found in muscle and brain. Human infection occurs mainly by ingesting food or water contaminated with oocyst or eating an undercook meat containing tissue cyst. Human might be infected via blood transfusion, organ transplantation or transplacenta transmission. Schizophrenia is a complex neuropsychiatric disease of the central nervous system, which contributing to behavioral changes which may resulted in higher risk to T. gondii infection. The purpose of this study were to know difference of seroprevalence and risk factor of toxoplasmosis between schizophrenia group and control group.
Materials and Methods: Serum sample were collected 94 among schizophrenia patient at Grhasia Hospital and 64 normal population (control group). Antibody IgG of T. gondii was measured using ELISA method (Enzym Link Immnusorbent Assay) and questionnaires were used to collect risk factor data among the respondent.
Results: The seroprevalence antibody IgG of patient with schizophrenia (69.14%) higher than control group (65.625%), but not significantly different (p>0.05). There was an association between some of risk factor with seropositive of toxoplasmosis in both group. In schizophrenia group, risk factor that associated with toxoplasmosis are uncooked meat consumption, contact with uncooked meat and soil, handwashing habit, uncooked water consumption, and water source. In control group, risk factor that associated are having cattles/pet, undercook meat consumption, and water source.
Conclusion: This finding have shown seroprevalence of schizophrenia group higher than non-schizophrenia group and risk factor which associated with toxoplasmosis was different between two groups
DETERMINATION OF EFFECTIVE DOSE OF ANTIMALARIAL FROM CASSIA SPECTABILIS LEAF ETHANOL EXTRACT IN PLASMODIUM BERGHEI-INFECTED MICE
Get PDFBackground: The preliminary study on antimalarial activity of the ethanol extract of Cassia spectabilis leaves against Plasmodium berghei has been carried out by in vivo experiment. It was demonstrated that ethanol extract of C. spectabilis leaves could inhibit growth of rodent malaria parasite P. berghei by 59.29 % (at a dose of 100 mg/kg bodyweight). However, further investigation is required to determine an effective dose of the administered extract for a higher inhibitory effect and increasing effectiveness of the extract.
Material and Methods: To determine the effective dose of ethanol extract of C. spectabilis leaves, a "4-day suppressive test"of Peter was performed with some modifications. The extract was administered orally to P. berghei-infected mice in multiple doses (twice and thrice daily) and single dose (once daily) with dose ranging from 50 - 250 mg/kg body weight. Antimalarial activities were determined by analyzing suppression of parasitaemia of treated mice.
Results: The results showed that oral administration of the ethanol extract of C. spectabilis leaves at dose of 150mg/kg bodyweight thrice daily possessed higher inhibition (62.42%) compared to those twice daily (52.58%) and once daily (46.25%).
Conclusion: These results suggested that ethanol extract of C. spectabilis is promising candidate for development of antimalarial drugs. The effective dose of the ethanol extract is 150 mg/kg bodyweight with thrice administration daily
COMPARISON OF MULTIPLEX SINGLE ROUND PCR AND MICROSCOPY IN DIAGNOSIS OF AMOEBIASIS
Get PDFBackground: Amoebiasis, the cause of dysentery and extra-intestinal abscesses, now becomes second fatal parasitic disease in the world. As routine microscopic diagnosis cannot differentiate causative Entamoeba histolytica from non-pathogenic E. dispar and E. moshkovskii, better diagnosis has to be searched.
Materials and Methods: Multiplex single round PCR was tested and compared with results of microscopy of wet preparation on 30 samples of diarrheic stools and extra intestinal lesions from amoebiasis suspected patients.
Results: Microscopy examination showed that 21 (70%) of the samples were positive for E. histolytica/E. dispar/E. moshkovskii complex and 18 (86%) of them contained hematophagous trophozoites. Multiplex single round PCR showed 12 positive results, from which seven were positive for E. histolytica, two were positive for E. moshkovskii, and three showed mixed of E. histolytica and E. moshkovskii. No samples were positive for E. dispar. High positive rate of microscopy might be related with highly suspected amoebiasis cases, while lower positive PCR might be caused by low parasite density and time-related trophozoite disintegration.
Conclusion: The study showed that multiplex single-round PCR is a valuable diagnostic tool for species differentiation, but cannot replace microscopy in the diagnosis of amoebiasis because of its low sensitivity and impossibility to discriminate the form of E. histolytica and whether it is in the disease-causing stage, while microscopic examination is capable to demonstrate the presence of hematophagous trophozoites that indicates it is invasive and at the disease-causing stage of E. histolytica
IN VITRO ANTI-INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY OF THE COMPONENTS OF AMOMUM TSAO-KO IN MURINE MACROPHAGE RAW 264.7 CELLS
Get PDFBackground: Plants still remain the prime source of drugs for the treatment of inflammation and can provide leads for the development of novel anti-inflammatory agents.
Material and methods: An in vitro bioassay guide revealed that the 80% ethanol (EtOH) extract of the whole plant, Amomum tsao-ko (Zingiberaceae), displayed anti-inflammatory activity after assessing its effects on murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells.
Result: Phytochemical study of the 80% EtOH extract of Amomum tsao-ko led to the isolation of eight compounds: 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-benzoic acid (1), meso-hannokinol (2), (+)-hannokinol (3), coumaric acid (4), 4-hydroxy-benzoic acid (5), (+)-epicatechin (6), (-)-catechin (7), and myrciaphenone A (8). The results indicated that two of the isolated components, (+)-epicatechin (6) and (-)-catechin (7), inhibited the production of nitric oxide (NO) significantly in lipopolysaccharide treated RAW 264.7 cells.
Conclusion: LPS-induced interleukin tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-), IL-1β and IL-10 production was also decreased in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, western blot analysis revealed that (+)-epicatechin (6) and (-)-catechin (7) reduced the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and inhibited nuclear localization of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB)
IMMUNOMODULATORY ACTIVITY OF THE CHENOPODIUM OPULIFOLIUM TOTAL CRUDE EXTRACT IN WISTER ALBINO RATS
Get PDFBackground: Chronic disease conditions like cancer, diabetes, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS compromise the immune system thus necessitating immune boasting. The use of medicinal herbs in immunomodulation is now common, albeit with limited evidence regarding efficacy. We therefore investigated the immunomodulatory activity of the total crude leaf and stem extract of Chenopodium opulifolium in mice.
Materials and methods: An experimental study was conducted using four groups of rats each with 6 animals with treatments administered daily for 29 days. Group one served as the positive control and received 20mg/kg of levamisole. Group 2, the negative control received 2 ml of an olive oil and normal saline mixture. Groups 3 and 4 received 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg bwt of the total crude leaf and stem extract respectively. On the 15th day, whole blood was collected for complete blood count and delayed type hypersensitivity response determination, haemagglutination antibody titer assay was done on blood collected on the 29th day.
Results: Results revealed that the extract had a significant (P< 0.05) effect on haemagglutination antibody titers with the highest response observed in the extract group at 200mg/kg (30.67±1.33). The mean WBC (3.13±0.71×103/μl), neutrophil (0.93±0.48 cells/ μl) and lymphocyte (2.20±0.00 cells/ μl) counts in the 200mg/kg bwt extract group were elevated to levels comparable to the positive control.
Conclusion: The total crude extract of Chenopodium opulifolium exhibits immunomodulatory activity in a dose dependent manner. Future studies utilizing pure extracts in order to pin point to the extract mechanism responsible for Immunomodulation are required for more conclusive results