Aim: Jatropha gossypifolia belongs to the family "Euphorbiacea". The coagulant activity and the mechanism of action of Jatropha gossypifolia stem latex as a haemostatic agent were investigated.Methods: The mechanism of action was investigated using doubling dilution technique by mixing neat (undiluted) and serial dilutions of the latex with 30% bovine albumin.Results: The results of whole blood clotting time using Lee and White method and bleeding time using Ivy's method were significantly reduced (P < 0.05) when stem latex was introduced than when the tests were performed without stem latex. This means that the stem latex possesses procoagulant activity.Conclusion: The result of this test showed that precipitation of coagulant factors is the mechanism of action of its haemostatic activity.

Crude ethanolic extract and column chromatographic fractions of the Allepey cultivar of Curcuma longa Roxb, commonly called turmeric (tumeric) in commerce, were used as a stain for tissue sections. Staining was carried out under basic, acidic and neutral media conditions. Inorganic and organic dissolution solvents were used. The stain was used as a counterstain after alum and iron haematoxylins. C. longa stained collagen fibres, cytoplasm, red blood cells and muscle cells yellow. It also stained in a fashion similar to eosin, except for its intense yellow colour.Preliminary phytochemical evaluation of the active column fraction revealed that it contained flavonoids, free anthraquinone and deoxy sugar. A cheap, natural dye can thus be obtained from C. longa .

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Background:Few articles have linked the consumption of green tea to certain liver diseases but several articles have disputed these assertions and the consumption of green tea has been on the increase.Aims:The effects of oral administration of green tea on the liver of Wistar rats were studied in order to compare biochemical findings with histological findings.Materials and Methods:36 male and female Wistar albino rats were grouped into 6, consisting of 6 rats in each group. They were given 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5% concentration of green tea in tap water for 42 days. The 6th group was on normal diet and received 0% of the tea. Their blood samples were analyzed for total and conjugated bilirubin, total protein, albumin, globulin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase. The liver tissues were also processed for histological examination.Results:The liver tissues were essentially normal and similar to the control tissues. The biochemical parameters studied were also normal and similar to the results obtained from the control animals.Conclusion:Sub chronic consumption of green tea has no injurious effects on the liver of Wistar rats.

ODOKUMA, E. I.; EGHWORO , O.; AVWIORO, G. & AGBEDIA, U. Tongue rolling and tongue folding traits in an African population. Int. J. Morphol., 26(3):533-535, 2008.SUMMARY: Genetic variations that occur in humans are usually as a result of a plethora of factors which are of enormous value from physical anthropological window especially in studying population variation and human diversity. This study was conducted amongst unrelated volunteer students of Delta State University, Nigeria who were all of Urhobo tribe (71 males) and (72) females aged between 18 years and over to determine their ability to roll or fold the tongues. The frequency of folders (120) and rollers (87) were more common than non-folders (23) and non-rollers (56).The incidence of tongue rolling was higher in females than in their male counterparts. These differences did not however show any statistical significance, p > 0.01. The frequency of R-F was observed to be highest in both males and females (38 and 43) respectively. 22 males and 17 females were observed to be capable of fold but unable to roll their tongue. None rollers and none folders were 9 males and 7 females respectively while rollers and none-folders were the least with frequencies of 2 males and 3 females respectively.ODOKUMA, E. I.; EGHWORO , O.; AVWIORO, G. & AGBEDIA, U. Tongue rolling and tongue folding traits in an African population. Int. J. Morphol., 26(3):533-535, 2008.

Background Sex workers, like others, are facing economic hardships and anxiety about their health and safety due to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), an infectious disease caused by a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Universally, most sex work has largely reduced, moved online, or undertaken covertly because of lockdown measures and need for social distancing to break the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. However, the ability of sex workers to protect themselves against COVID-19 depends on their individual and interpersonal behaviors and work environment. In this study, we sought to determine the relationships between COVID-19 knowledge, awareness and prevention practice (KAP) among female commercial sex workers (FCSW) in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to inform the development of prevention interventions for this vulnerable population. Methods Data used in this study were obtained from a cross-sectional survey of 604 FCSW operating in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. We used descriptive and inferential statistics to assess their socio-demographic characteristics and COVID-19 KAP adopted against the novel coronavirus. Latent class analysis was used to systematically classify participants’ attributes and behaviors into the most likely distinct clusters or risk groups. Results The majority of the FCSW were singles (86.8%) of childbearing ages, 21–35 years (86.2%), with almost three quarters (73.2%) of them having sex with 3–4 clients per day during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, almost three quarters of the participants had both good knowledge and awareness about COVID-19 but less than half of them (41.1%) implemented good practice to prevent the spread of the disease. However, a highly significant and positive relationship was recorded between COVID-19 knowledge ( r =0.90, p <0.0001) and awareness ( r =0.65, p <0.0001), and preventive practice of FCSW, respectively. About 89.1% of the participants were not very familiar with the symptoms of COVID-19 (p<0.0001). Only 10.9% of the FCSW indicated that they wear facemask at all times, while 45.2% of them do not wear facemask during sexual intercourse with their clients ( p <0.0001). Based on the FCSW attributes and behaviors, we identified three distinct clusters or risk groups (p<0.0001), namely, low-risk takers (Cluster 1), high-risk takers (Cluster 2) and very high-risk takers (Cluster 3) with latent class prevalence rates (γ c ) of 41.13% (95% CI: 37.26–45.10), 33.17% (95% CI: 29.53–37.02) and 25.71% (95% CI: 22.38–29.34), respectively. Conclusion Sex work has high transmission potentials for SARS-CoV-2 because of its operational nature, which does not permit social distancing, and thus, renders certain preventive measures practically ineffective. This is a major c...

Background: Alcohol-induced cerebellar neurodegeneration is a neuroadaptation that is associated with chronic alcohol abuse. Conventional drugs have been largely unsatisfactory in preventing neurodegeneration. Yet, multimodal neuroprotective therapeutic agents have been hypothesised to have high therapeutic potential for the treatment of CNS conditions; there is yet a dilemma of how this would be achieved. Contrarily, medicinal botanicals are naturally multimodal in their mechanism of action. Aim: The eff ect of L. owariensis was therefore assessed in alcohol-induced neurodegeneration of the cerebellar cortex in rats. Materials and methods: Two groups of rats were oro-gastrically fed thrice daily with 5 g/kg ethanol (25% w/v), and 5 g/kg ethanol (25% w/v) plus L. owariensis (100 mg/kg body weight) respectively in diluted nutritionally complete diet (50% v/v). A control group was correspondingly fed a nutritionally complete diet (50% v/v) made isocaloric with glucose. Cytoarchitectural study of the cerebellar cortex was examined with H&E. Immunocytochemical analysis was carried out with the use of monoclonal antibody anti-NF in order to detect alterations in the neuronal cytoskeleton. Results: After 4 days of binge alcohol treatment, we observed that L. owariensis supplementation signifi cantly lowered the levels of histologic and biochemical indices of neurodegeneration. The level of neurodegeneration and cytoarchitecture distortion of the cerebellar cortex of rats exposed to ethanol was reduced by L. owariensis. Neurofi lament-immunoreactivity (NF-IR) was evoked in the Purkinje cells of rats that received L. owariensis supplement. Conclusions: L. owariensis attenuates alcohol-induced cerebellar degeneration in the rat by alleviating oxidative stress and alteration of NF protein expression in the Purkinje cells.

The extract of Jatropha gossypifolia leaf was obtained by crushing the leaf in a mortal and the fluid expressed out. The suitability of the leaf extract as an anticoagulant for biochemical and haematological analyses was determined. The anticoagulant effect of the extract was found to be highest at a concentration of 0.1 ml per ml of blood. Blood tubes with dried leaf extract at the stated concentration were used for obtaining plasma. Mean plasma glucose values obtained from fluoride oxalate plasma were compared with values obtained from dried leaf extract plasma. The values obtained for biochemical parameters with the exception of bicarbonate from the leaf extract plasma samples were significantly higher (P<0.05) than values obtained from conventional anticoagulants. The leaf extract was later found to contain each of these parameters in high concentrations. The results of heamatological parameters obtained from the leaf extract and those of the dipotassium ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid were comparable. The leaf extract is suitable as an anticoagulant for heamatological analysis but must be purified to remove interfering substances for it to be suitable for biochemical analysis.