Background: Carbonated drinks are widely consumed because of their taste and their ability to refresh and quench thirst. These carbonated drinks also exist in the form of diet drinks, for example Diet Coke® , Pepsi®, extra. Objectives: A comparative effect of the diet and regular soda carbonated drinks on the histology of the cerebellum of female albino Wistar rats was investigated. Methods: Fifteen adult female Wistar rats weighing between 180-200g were divided into 3 groups; designated as groups A, B and C, and each group consisted of five rats. Group A was the Control group and received distilled water, while groups B and C were the experimental groups. Group B was administered 50 ml of regular soda (RS), and group C was administered 50 ml of diet soda (DS) each per day for 21 days, and the rats were sacrificed on Day 22, and their cerebellums excised and preserved. Results: Histological result of the sections of the cerebellum showed shrunken and degenerated Purkinje cells with hypertrophied dendrites, especially in the DS group, which was less in the RS group compared to the control group. Conclusions: These results suggest that diet soda has adverse effect on the cerebellum of adult female albino Wistar rats.

Amodiaquine (AQ) is a 4-aminoquinoline antimalarial with schizonticidal action against different strains of Plasmodia. This study assessed the effect of the drug on some macromolecules of the brain of albino Wistar rats. Twenty-four adult Wistar rats weighing between 150-180 g were divided into four groups of six animals each. Group 1 served as the control and received distilled water, while groups 2, 3 and 4, the experimental groups, were treated with 17.50 mg/kg, 8.75 mg/kg and 8.75 mg/kg of AQ, respectively. The treatment lasted three days for groups 2 and 3, and six days for group 4. The brains of the animals were removed, weighed and preserved in sucrose tris-KCl-MgCl (STKM) buffer for some macromolecule analysis. The total proteins (TP) and triacylglycerol (TAG) showed no significant (p>0.05) differences between the experimental groups compared to the control, and there was no significant (p>0.05) difference within the experimental groups. In the cholesterol (CH) estimation, the control had significantly (p<0.01, p<0.001) higher concentration than groups 3 and 4 respectively, but not group 2. CH concentration in group 2 was, however, significantly (p<0.05, p<0.01) higher than that in groups 3 and 4 respectively. These results reveal that AQ caused insignificant change to brain TP and TAG, but significantly altered the CH in the brain of Wistar rats.

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The incidence of Pes planus was determined among the people of Cross River State. A total of 1000 individuals comprising 500 males and 500 females of Cross River State origin and aged 20-30 years were used to assess the prevalence of Pes planus. All volunteers involved in the study had no deformities or previous fractures of the lower extremities especially of the foot. For each volunteer, bilateral plantar prints were obtained using ink procedure method. All prints were counted, separated into sexes and the incidence of flat foot calculated for both sexes. A total of 111 individuals had flat foot comprising 44 males and 67 females. The overall incidence of Pes planus was 22.20% with a prevalence of 8.80% amongst males and 13.40% amongst females. Bilateral flat foot was more common in females (11.20%) than in males (6.00%). Unilateral flat foot was more common in males (2.80%) than in females (2.20%). Our result shows that the prevalence of flat foot is higher amongst the females than the males in Cross River State with the prevalence being 22.20%.

AbstractsBackground: Artesunate (AS) is an artemisinin antimalarial drug used as a single drug or in combination with other antimalarials. Objective: This study was to find its effect on some brain biomolecules and behavioural activities in Wistar rats. Methods:Forty adult male Wistar rats weighing between 150-180g were divided into four groups of A, B, C and D with 10 animals each. Group A served as the control that received tap water, while groups B, C and D served as the experimental groups that received 2.85mg/kg (therapeutic dose-TD) and 5.71mg/kg (high pharmacologic dose-HPD) of AS per day for 3 days, and 2.85mg/kg (long duration therapeutic dose -LDTD) of AS per day for six days respectively. Half of the dose was administered twelve hourly (twice a day), and twelve hours after the last treatments, behaviour test using the 'open field maze' was carried out. Immediately after, the animals were sacrificed with chloroform anaesthesia and the whole brain removed and weighed. Whole brain homogenates were used to determine brain total protein (TP), triacylglycerol (TAG) and cholesterol (CH).Data were analyzed statistically by ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer Multiple Comparative Test as applicable. Results: There were no difference (p<0.05) between the experimental groups and the control group in the anthropometric parameters and behavioural activities. In the brain biomolecules concentration, TP was lower in concentration in the HPD group, TAG was lower in concentration in the LDTD group, while the HPD and LDTD groups had lower CH concentration compared to the control. In all the parameters studied no difference was found between the TD group and the control. Conclusion: AS at recommended dose may not affect some behaviour and brain biomolecule concentration, unlike when taken in excess of dose and or time. Even at these doses/time there may have been no behavioural manifestation.