Background: Research studies that holistically investigated the effect of administration of Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) on diabetic humans or animals are limited in literature. Objective: To investigate the effect of administration of VCO on lipid profile, markers of hepatic and renal dysfunction, and hepatic and renal antioxidant activities of alloxan induced diabetic rats. Methods: Twenty-four male albino rats were used, and they were divided into four groups of six rats each. Group 1 (Normal Control, NC) received distilled water (1 mL/kg); Group 2 (VCO Control) received VCO (5 mL/kg); Group 3 (Diabetic Control, DC) received distilled water (1 mL/kg); Group 4 (Test Group, TG) received 5 ml/kg of VCO. Results: There were no significant differences in blood glucose, body weights, relative liver weights, relative kidney weights, hepatic and renal Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activities, Malondialdehyde (MDA), albumin, aspartate Amino Transaminase (AST), alanine Amino Transaminase (ALT), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), urea, creatinine, uric acid, total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, Very Low Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL) and Low Density Lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) concentrations; significant increases in renal Glutathione (GSH), hepatic catalase, Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) and GSH but significant reduction in renal GPx and catalase activities of VCO control group compared with NC group. There were significant increases in blood glucose, relative liver and kidney weights, hepatic GPx, hepatic and renal MDA concentration, ALP, AST, ALT, urea, creatinine, uric acid, triacylglycerol, total cholesterol, LDL and VLDL concentrations; and significant decreases in body weight, hepatic SOD and GSH activities and albumin concentration but no significant difference in hepatic catalase activity of DC group compared with NC group. Administration of VCO to diabetic rats positively modulated these parameters compared with the diabetic control. Conclusion: The study showed the potentials of VCO in the management of hyperlipidemia, renal and hepatic dysfunctions imposed by hyperglycemia and by oxidative stress in diabetic rats.

HighlightsStreptozotocin induced diabetes altered fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, body weight, serum lipid profiles, hepatic lipogenic enzymes and antioxidant activities of the rats.Livingstone potato modulated the fasting blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, lipid profiles, hepatic lipogenic enzymes and antioxidant status of the diabetic rats.Treatment of diabetics with livingstone potato may lead to increased utilization of circulating glucose by the liver.

Lassa fever (LF) is a rodent-borne disease that threatens human health in the sub-region of West Africa where the zoonotic host of Lassa virus (LASV) is predominant. Currently, treatment options for LF are limited and since no preventive vaccine is approved for its infectivity, there is a high mortality rate in endemic areas. This narrative review explores the transmission, pathogenicity of LASV, advances, and challenges of different treatment options. Our findings indicate that genetic diversity among the different strains of LASV and their ability to circumvent the immune system poses a critical challenge to the development of LASV vaccines/therapeutics. Thus, understanding the biochemistry, physiology and genetic polymorphism of LASV, mechanism of evading host immunity are essential for development of effective LASV vaccines/therapeutics to combat this lethal viral disease. The LASV nucleoprotein (NP) is a novel target for therapeutics as it functions significantly in several aspects of the viral life cycle. Consequently, LASV NP inhibitors could be employed as effective therapeutics as they will potentially inhibit LASV replication. Effective preventive control measures, vaccine development, target validation, and repurposing of existing drugs, such as ribavirin, using activity or in silico-based and computational bioinformatics, would aid in the development of novel drugs for LF management.

Hibiscus sabdariffa had been reported to have a broad range of therapeutic effects. The effects of oral administration of Hibiscus sabdariffa aqueous extract on some biochemical parameters were studied in wistar albino rats. A total of twenty five (25) male albino rats were grouped randomly into groups. Group A (control), Group B (0.6g/100ml of water of HS extract) Group C (1.2g/100ml HS extract), Group D (1.8g/100ml HS extract) and Group E (1.8g/100ml + vitamin C) and treatment period was 28 days. The results indicate an increase activity of liver function enzymes; alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST). This increase was statistically significant (p<0.05) when compared with Group A (control) in a dose dependent manner.No significant difference was observed in total and direct bilirubin in all the groups. Similarly for renal indices, bicarbonate (Hco 3), urea and creatinine in all the groups, but a significant increase (p<0.05) in sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) and chloride were noted in comparison to the control.It is of note that there was no significant difference between results of Group E and the control (Group A). However, this study suggests that long term administration of the extract may indeed be toxic to liver and kidney especially at high doses.

We studied the acute and sub-acute toxicity of Combretum dolichopetalum leaves in experimental mice and rats respectively using standard techniques. The LD50 of the methanol extract of Combretum dolichopetalum leaves as carried out in experimental mice was obtained as more than 5000 mg/kg body weight. Administration of graded doses (100, 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg) of the extract for 21 days resulted in increases in body weights, white blood cells (WBC), Neutrophils, red blood cells (RBC), packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (HGB), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) of the rats; but did not affect (P0.05) their monocytes, mean cell haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), platelet (PLT) levels. All doses of the extract did not affect (P0.05) the sodium, potassium, chloride, bicarbonate, urea, creatinine, total and conjugated bilirubin, alanine and aspartate amino transaminase, aspartate amino transaminase, alkaline phosphatase activities; relative liver and kidney weights of the rats, a finding that was corroborated by histology of the liver and the kidney. The extract at 100 mg/kg had no effect on the PCV and HB of the rats. The study suggested the therapeutic potentials of Combretum dolichopetalum as a blood booster. Finally, the study revealed the safety in the usage of Combretum dolichopetalum leaves in Nigerian ethnomedicine.Key words: ethnopharmacology; Combretum dolichopetalum; toxicology; herbal medicine; nutraceutical; pharmacotherapyAKUTNA IN SUBAKUTNA ŠTUDIJA TOKSIČNOSTI LISTOV RASTLINE Combretum dolichopetalumPovzetek: S standardnimi metodami smo pri poskusnih miših in podganah proučevali akutno in subakutno toksičnost listov Combretum dolichopetalum. LD50 metanolnega izvlečka listov Combretum dolichopetalum je bil pri poskusnih miših nad 5000  mg/kg telesne teže. Enaindvajsetdnevno dodajanje naraščajočih odmerkov (100, 200, 400 in 800 mg/kg) izvlečka je pri poskusnih podganah povzročilo povečanje telesne mase, števila belih krvničk (WBC), nevtrofilcev, rdečih krvničk (RBC), volumna stisnjenih  eritrocitov (PCV), hemoglobina (HGB), povprečnega volumna eritrocitov (MCV) in povprečno vsebino hemoglobina v eritrocitih (MCH), ni pa vplivalo (p 0,05) na število monocitov, povprečno koncentracijo hemoglobina v volumnu eritrocitov (MCHC)  ter na povprečno vrednost trombocitov (PLT). Nobeden od odmerkov izvlečka ni vplival na (p 0,05) vrednosti natrija, kalija, klorida, bikarbonata, sečnine, kreatinina, skupnega bilirubina in vezanega bilirubina, alanina, aspartatne amino transaminaze, aspartatne amino transaminaze, alkalne fosfataze; relativno težo jeter in ledvic podgan, kar je bilo v skladu s histološko preiskavo jeter in  ledvic. Izvleček v odmerku 100 mg/kg ni vplival na PCV in HB podgan. Študija tako kaže na možnost uporabe rastline Combretum  dolichopetalum za izboljšanje krvne slike. Raziskava je dokazala varnost uporabe listov Combretum dolichopetalum, ki se tradicionalno uporabljajo v Nigeriji v etnomedicini.Ključne besede: etnofarmakologija; Combretum dolichopetalum; toksikologija; zeliščna zdravila; hranila; farmakoterapija