Bromelain, an enzyme extracted from the stem of the pineapple plant, has been reported to reduce pain and swelling in acute soft tissue injuries, but no study has been done to compare its effect with that of fresh pineapple juice on the healing of acute tendon injuries. This study compared the effects of commercial bromelain and fresh pineapple juice on tenocyte proliferation and the malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the early stage of healing in a crush injury to the Achilles tendon of Sprague-Dawley rats. Twenty-four male rats were divided randomly into three groups of eight rats each; all the rats had induced crush injury to the Achilles tendon: Group 1 (control), no treatment; Group 2, oral bromelain treatment at a dosage of 7 mg/kg of body weight daily; and Group 3, fresh diluted pineapple juice at a dosage of 30 mg/kg of body weight. Treatment was given over the first 14 days post-injury. On day 15 post-injury, the animals were sacrificed, and the tendons were excised and processed for histological study and MDA assay. Results show a significant difference in the tenocyte population between the bromelain group and the control (P < .05), whereas pineapple juice also increased the tenocyte population, although not significantly (P = .36). Pineapple juice, however, significantly lowered the MDA level compared with both the control and bromelain-treated groups. Based on this study, 600 GDU bromelain given at a dosage of 7 mg/kg had a better effect on tenocyte proliferation than fresh pineapple juice given once daily in acute tendon injury.
Background: The determination of living stature is a key component of personal identification of individuals. In this study, we developed predictive regression models and multiplication factors to reliably estimate living stature from foot length and breadth in adult Nigerian undergraduate students at the University of Lagos. Materials and methods: The study sample comprised 400 subjects (200 males and 200 females) of Nigerian parentage, aged 18-36 years who volunteered and satisfied the inclusion criteria. Following institutional approval, anthropometric measurements of stature, foot length, and foot breadth were taken with a stadiometer, a large sliding caliper and a small sliding vernier caliper respectively according to the protocol recommended by the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK). The data was analyzed for descriptive and inferential statistics using the SPSS statistical package version 20. Results: Mean stature values of 176.44 ± 6.47 cm, 164.71 ± 6.70 cm, and 169.80 ± 8.79 cm were recorded for the males, females, and the pooled sample respectively. The mean values of the foot dimensions (right and left) in the males, females, and the pooled sample ranged from 9.49 ± 0.73 to 27.29 ± 1.30 cm. Independent t test exhibited statistically significant gender differences (P < 0.05) for all the parameters except age, with the males having consistently higher values than the females. Paired t test revealed the existence of bilateral asymmetry between right and left foot dimensions, except for the foot length in the males (P < 0.05). Significant positive correlation coefficients of stature with the foot length and breadth dimensions were found to range from 0.344 to 0.832 in the study. The multiplication factors computed for stature prediction from foot length and breadth ranged from 6.465 to 18.301 in the males, females, and the pooled sample. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated that stature can be predicted from foot dimensions, with the foot length showing more accuracy and reliability than the foot breadth. The prediction models established from this study will be very useful in disaster victim identification from mutilated human remains in Nigeria.
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