No abstract

Wound healing agents support the natural healing process, reduce trauma and likelihood of secondary infections and hasten wound closure. The wound healing activities of water in oil cream of the methanol extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (Malvaceae) was evaluated in rats with superficial skin excision wounds. Antibacterial activities against Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Echerichia coli were determined. The total flavonoid content, antioxidant properties and thin layer chromatographic fingerprints of the extract were also evaluated. The extract demonstrated antioxidant properties with a total flavonoid content of 12.30±0.09 mg/g. Six reproducible spots were obtained using methanol:water (95:5) as the mobile phase. The extract showed no antimicrobial activity on the selected microorganisms, which are known to infect and retard wound healing. Creams containing H. sabdariffa extract showed significant (P<0.05) and concentration dependent wound healing activities. There was also evidence of synergism with creams containing a combination of gentamicin and H. sabdariffa extract. This study, thus, provides evidence of the wound healing potentials of the formulated extract of the calyces of H. sabdariffa and synergism when co-formulated with gentamicin.

Preparations of Agelanthus dodoneifolius have been used in the traditional Nigerian medicine to treat malaria and this practice has remained till date without scientific validation. The antiplasmodial property of the water extract of Agelanthus dodoneifolius was evaluated in vivo and in vitro against Plasmodium berghei and clinical isolates of Plasmodium falciparum, respectively. There was a dose-dependent inhibition of parasitaemia in the in vivo antiplasmodial tests likewise, the in vitro screening demonstrated a strong and concentration-dependent activity (21.54 μg/ml < IC50 < 50 μg/ml) of the extract against the clinical isolates of Plasmodium falciparum. The phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of tannins, saponins, sterols, glycosides, phenols, anthraquinones, terpenes, reducing sugars and resins. It also showed a strong free-radical scavenging activity on 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl. The oral median lethal dose (LD50) in mice was estimated to be greater than 5000 mg/kg. Our results evidence that Agelanthus dodoneifolius may contain biologically active principles those are relevant in the treatment of malaria, thus supporting further studies of its active components.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Wound represents a major health burden in Africa and most parts of the world. In this study, woundrelated visits and hospitalization in a teaching hospital in Northern Nigeria were documented; this involved a retrospective on-site medical record review of wound-related hospital admissions from 1st April 2014 through 31st June 2014. Out of 139 patients that visited the hospital for wound-related cases, 63.4% were males, month of June had the highest admission (43.9%), and the age group 21-30 years formed the largest proportion (38.9%). The leading cause of wound was incision (54.0%), followed by avulsion (33.1%), analgesics were the most prescribed drugs (34.2%), antibiotics ranked the second prescribed drugs (32.9%), pentazocine was the most analgesic commonly administered (33.0%) and 60.3% of the patients that visited the hospital for wound-related cases stayed up to 7 days. There were significant association between the gender of the patients and causes of wounds, drugs prescribed, types of analgesics prescribed as well as a significant association between causes of wounds and length of stay at 0.01 level (2-tailed). This study provides considerable information on major causes of wounds and will be useful for planning program of education and health care policy.