Background:Hypertension is a cardiovascular disease of increasing global burden with prevalence in Nigeria ranging from 8% to 46.4%.Aim:To determine the prevalence and determinants of hypertension in Igbeagu, a rural community in South-Eastern Nigeria.Subjects and Methods:Consenting residents aged 18 years and above participated in this survey. A structured questionnaire was administered on the participants in their native dialect. Blood pressure (BP) and anthropometric parameters of the participants were measured using standard techniques. Hypertension was defined as systolic BP ≥ 140 mmHg and diastolic BP of ≥ 90 mmHg.Results:Two hundred and sixty-seven participants had their BP and data completed satisfactorily. Sixty-two persons were hypertensive, giving a prevalence rate of 23.2% (62/267). Age, consumption of red meat, body mass index (BMI), and the number of children in the family were associated with hypertension. Regression analysis showed that only BMI and age were independent risk factors for hypertension.Conclusion:Although the prevalence of hypertension in this study and their associated risk factors were in agreement with studies done previously in Nigeria, the association between number of children in the family and hypertension is yet to be understood. Efforts are needed to curb the high prevalence of hypertension in this community.
Fresh leaves of Zapoteca portoricensis are used in Eastern Nigeria for management/treatment of various disorders without any scientific basis. Hepatoprotective and antioxidant properties in albino rats, and phytochemical composition of distilled water and ethanol leaf extracts were studied. Fifty-five animals were placed in eleven groups (A-K) of five in each. Different doses (100, 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg body weight) of the extracts, 20 mg/kg body weight of vitamin C (standard antioxidant) and distilled water were orally administered to groups A-H, I and J-K respectively for six consecutive days. On the seventh day, 2.5 ml/kg body weight of carbon tetrachloride (CCl 4) was given intraperitoneally to groups A-J, while group K received distilling. Serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and gamma glutamyltransferase (GGT) were used to study hepatoprotective effect. Malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels in the liver were monitored to assess antioxidant activity. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, anthraquinones, terpenoids and cardiac glycosides in the extracts. Pretreatment of the rats with the extracts produced a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in ALT, AST, GGT and MDA, while the activity of SOD and CAT increased significantly (p < 0.05) relative to the positive control. These results, which were dose-dependent, are indicative of hepatoprotective and antioxidants potentials of the extracts, and may be due to their phytoconstituents.
Ameliorative effects of aqueous seed extract of D acryodes edulis on doxorubicininduced cardiac tissue damage in albino rats were investigated. The animals were divided into groups and fed for 14 days to acclimatize. A single dose of 15 mg/kg body weight doxorubicin was given intraperitoneally to each group except the control group. After 48 hours, two animals were randomly selected from each group and sacrificed under ethylether anesthesia, to harvest their hearts for histological studies. Subsequently, groups 1 and 2 were given normal saline, while groups 3 and 4 were treated with 25 and 100 mg/kg body weight of aspirin and vitamin C respectively. Groups 5-8 received different doses of aqueous seed extract (200, 400, 600, and 800 mg/kg body weight). Treatments lasted for 21 days and the rats were sacrificed under anesthesia, and their hearts harvested and fixed in 10% formol saline for examination. The photomicrograph revealed severe and focal loss of cardiac fiber, intra-myocardial hemorrhages, fragmentation of cardiac muscle, and disorganization of histoarchitecture in the induced but untreated animal groups. Micrographs showed significant ameliorative effects of the extract in a dose-dependent way and healing effects of the standard drugs. These results showed that aqueous seed extract of Dacryodes edulis exhibits therapeutic potentials for cardiac disorders.
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