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This study investigated the hepatoprotective effect of methanol seed extract of Citrus tangerina on liver damage induced by paracetamol in laboratory rats. Wistar rats were used in this study and categorized into five groups. Groups 1 and 2 received 10 ml/kg normal saline orally, groups 3 and 4 were administered 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg respectively of Citrus tangerina seed extract orally, while silymarin 100 mg/kg served as standard drug treatment for group 5. Following six (6) days of pretreatment with the extract, hepatotoxicity was induced with paracetamol 3 g/kg (orally) in all the groups except the positive control group. At the end of the experiment (24 hours after induction), blood samples were collected under diethyl ether anaesthesia for biochemical markers of liver enzymes and antioxidative stress and the liver was harvested for histopathological studies. Both doses (200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg) of Citrus tangerina seed extract significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the liver enzymes level, but significantly (p < 0.05) increased antioxidant enzymes when compared with the negative control group. Liver histology showed that the Citrus tangerina seed extract prevented hepatic injury induced by paracetamol. The methanol seed extract of Citrus tangerina possesses antioxidative and hepatoprotective effects.

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BACKGROUND: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a physiologic process in women where mood swing is one of the symptoms influencing the psycho-emotional, physical, and behavioral reactions exhibited by women during menstruation. This study elucidates the effect of mood swing, confounding factors and healthcare-seeking behaviors of women in an educational environment.METHODS: Exactly 328 women who were within reproductive ages 16 and 35 years participated in this study. A survey method was adopted; validated and standardized questionnaires were administered to confidentially assess the effect of mood swing via PMS. All data were analyzed with SPSS 25.0; descriptive method was adopted and results were expressed in percentages.RESULTS: Mood swing was discovered as a symptom overlapping with psycho-emotional, physical, and behavioral symptoms during menstruation. The overall PMS prevalence was 67.4% while PMDD prevalence was 25.6%. Psycho-emotional symptoms: anger, irritability, depression. Physical symptoms: coldness, paleness, food craving, breast tenderness, digestive changes. Behavioral symptoms: social withdrawal, nocturnal social activity, absenteeism, poor work or academic performance, increased libido. Confounding factors include stress, gynecological conditions such as endometriosis, uterine fibroid, ovarian cyst, pelvic adhesion, and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Also, 22.9% had a family history of bipolar disorder (BD) while 30.2% had previous diagnosis. Severe pain was a major factor for seeking treatment; Paracetamol, and Piroxicam were frequently used drugs.CONCLUSIONS: Severe PMS triggers mood swing and can badly affect academic or work activities; victims either endure the pain due to socio-cultural and financial factors or take unsuitable medications where abuse is inevitable.

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Background: The extract of the leaves of Viscum album (mistletoe) has been used for centuries in traditional medicine in many parts of the world. However, like many medicinal plants, the belief that things of natural origin are safe may not be entirely true. The blood is a good indicator of health and pathological mirror of the entire body. Objective: Therefore, in this study, the acute effects of extracts of mistletoe, harvested from three hosts, on haematology indices of wistar albino rats was investigated. Methods: Graded doses (400, 800, 1600 and 3200mg/kg body weight) of aqueous extracts of mistletoe from three different host plants, coffee (Coffee arabica), kola (Kola nitida), cocoa (Theobromae cacao), were administered orally to wistar albino rats for 14 days. Full haematological parameters were evaluated on whole blood collected from rats twenty four hours after the administration of the last dose. Results: Mistletoe from kola caused a concentration dependent and statistically significant (p<0.05) reduction in platelets count in rats. Administration of mistletoe extract from cocoa and coffee led to reduction in hemoglobin concentration. Reductions in packed cell volume (PCV) and red blood cell (RBC) and increase in white blood cells (WBC) were also observed in rats administered all the extracts. Conclusion: Increase in the WBC count observed in rats administered mistletoe suggests that mistletoe extract contains agents that could stimulate the production of leucocytes and could serve as immune booster. However, there is need to be cautious in administration at high doses to prevent the risk of anaemia.

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