This study evaluated the antiplasmodial, hepatic and nephritic effects of fractions of Glyphaea brevis methanol leaf extract in P. berghei infected mice. Mice weighing between 15-30 g were infested intraperitoneally with 0.2ml plasmodium infected blood and left for 3 hours before treatment. Infected test groups were treated via oral route of administration with varying doses (200, 300 and 400 mg/kg body weight) of ethylacetate, N-butanol and residual aqueous portion fractions of the Glyphaea brevis methanol extract and Artemisinin (5 mg/kg b.wt) for four days. N-butanol fraction showed the highest antiplasmodial activity (76.64%), followed by residual aqueous portion (73.25%) and ethylacetate (72.99%); Artemisinin has 86.13%. Serum bilirubin (total and conjugated) concentrations of the untreated group (0.82 ± 0.20, 0.51 ± 0.12) were significantly lower (P<0.05) than those in the infected group treated with 300 mg/kg of the residual aqueous portion (1.36 ± 0.20, 0.76 ± 0.05) respectively. Serum albumin levels showed significant (P<0.05) increase in all the groups treated compared to the positive control. Serum total protein, urea and creatinine levels of test groups were not significantly (P>0.05) different from the positive control group. Conclusively, Glyphaea brevis has substantial antiplasmodial activity and could provide a lead for new antimalarial drug development.
Purpose of Review
The climate change (CC) or global warming (GW) modifies environment that favors vectors’ abundance, growth, and reproduction, and consequently, the rate of development of pathogens within the vectors. This review highlights the threats of GW-induced vector-borne diseases (VBDs) in Southern Europe (SE) and the need for mitigation efforts to prevent potential global health catastrophe.
Recent Findings
Reports showed astronomical surges in the incidences of CC-induced VBDs in the SE. The recently (2022) reported first cases of African swine fever in Northern Italy and West Nile fever in SE are linked to the CC-modified environmental conditions that support vectors and pathogens’ growth and development, and disease transmission.
Summary
VBDs endemic to the tropics are increasingly becoming a major health challenge in the SE, a temperate region, due to the favorable environmental conditions caused by CC/GW that support vectors and pathogens’ biology in the previously non-endemic temperate regions.
BackgroundMaternal nutrition plays a major role in the outcome of pregnancy. Nutrition and metabolism in pregnancy determine the intrauterine environment, which influences the development of the fetus and a child's health from birth to death. Although dyslipidemia during pregnancy has long-term effects on mother and child, routine antenatal clinic examinations rarely include lipid profile checks. In the present study, we did a cross-sectional investigation on the risk of dyslipidemia and the possible contribution of diet in 130 pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in selected heath facilities in Kaduna South LGA, Kaduna State Nigeria. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to assess the risk of dyslipidemia among the pregnant women.ResultsThe pregnant women in this study were between the ages of 16 - 40, 77 % of which had a secondary school education, while 67 % lived on a monthly income of N5,000 - N10,000 (12.05 USD - 24.10 USD). Their diet consisted mainly of fats, oils, and milk and milk products. Indices of dyslipidemia showed that the mean total cholesterol concentration of all the pregnant women (5.73 ± 1.13 mmol/L) was above the optimal range (< 5.20 mmol/L), while more than 10 % of them were above the optimal range for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 40.8 % and 35.4 % were at the borderline (1.93 ± 0.14 mmol/L) and high triglycerides (2.74 ± 0.45 mmol/L) concentrations respectively. Only milk and milk products showed a positive relationship with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.999, p = 0.001).ConclusionsThe lipid profiles of pregnant women in our study showed that they were at risk of dyslipidemia. Therefore, routine screening of lipid profiles during antenatal care is important to provide dietitians and caregivers with valuable information on how to provide optimal nutritional care to pregnant women.
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