ABSTRACT (' V ) Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) from adult Onchocerca volvulus was extracted in either 5OmM Tris-HCl, containing Triton X-100 (detergent buffer) or plain 50mM Tris-HCl (lowsalt buffer) Gel chromatography on Sephacryl S-300 column, of both the detergent buffer and the low-salt buffer extracts gave two components each./ The two components of the detergent buffer gave purification factors of 12 and 13 folds and yields of 22 and 23% respectively; those of the low-salt buffer had puri...
ABSTRACT Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) are promising third-generation photovoltaic devices that offer the conversion of light energy into electricity at a lower cost. At the heart of this device is a sensitizer (dye) adsorbed on TiO2-photoanode, which is responsible for the harvesting of visible light energy. However, the currently used sensitizers offer little improvement to the overall cell efficiency and this constitutes the main challenge to this technology. This work reports a comb...
Abstract Albizia anthelmintica belongs to the family Fabaceae. The plant is traditionally used to treat symptoms of microbial infections in both humans and animals. The present study was designed to evaluate the phytochemical content, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of A. anthelmintica leaves, roots and stem bark ethanol extracts. Antibacterial activity was carried out by means of the agar disc diffusion method. The anti-oxidative activities of the extracts were determined by means o...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this project was to study the antioxidant potential of selected Namibian Leafy Vegetables (NLV), using Total Phenolic Content (TPC), Total Flavonoid contents (TFC) as well as Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and Reducing Power (RP) assays. The study also aimed at detecting and characterizing eight phenolic acids (4- hydroxybenzoic, trans-ferulic, vanillic, gallic, syringic, sinapic and para-coumaric acids) ...
ABSTRACT Amaranth is an underutilised crop with great potential as a source of essential nutrients. It also contains bioactive compounds with potential health benefits. However, its characterisation for agronomic and nutritional traits is limited. Likewise, information on its hepatoprotective potential is scarce. In this study Amaranthus accessions were characterised using phenotypic and molecular markers. The quality of its seed protein and hepatoprotective activity of its Ethanol Seed Extra...
ABSTRACT Exposure to certain hexavalent chromate compounds (HCC) causes lung and colon cancers. Their mechanisms of cytotoxicity are unclear, but believed to be affected by ascorbate and particle size. However, their role is not clearly defined. Co-exposure with sodium arsenite (SA) is common, but its effect on HCC toxicity is unknown. Current therapy has side effects, necessitating the search for antidote from unexplored natural products such as Rauvolfia vomitora (RV). This study therefore ...
ABSTRACT Crinum jagus is a medicinal plant used traditionally to treat tuberculosis, malaria and other bacterial infections. However, there are limited documented scientific studies to substantiate the use of this plant. Due to increase in resistance to malaria and tuberculosis drugs, the need for the development of other drugs is pertinent. This study was designed to determine the pharmacological activities of extract and fractions of Crinum jagus. Methanol extract of C. jagus obtained by so...
ABSTRACT Natural products present in medicinal plants are an important source of therapeutic agents and many research groups are currently screening different biological activities of plants. This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial, antioxidant properties and phytochemical analysis of Acacia arenaria (Fabaceae), Aloe esculenta (Alliaceae) and Pechuel-Loeschea leubnitziae (Asteraceae) that are used in traditional settings. The antimicrobial activity of the methanol-dichloromethane (...
ABSTRACT Namibia has a rich biodiversity of plant species of which a great variety is used for food, cosmetics and medicinal applications. Seed oil production from indigenous sources has economic importance for Namibia and is an asset for improving the livelihoods of local communities. Knowledge of the quality and composition of these oils can be used towards value-added product development strategies and improved marketing of indigenous resources. A comprehensive profile of indigenous seed ...
ABSTRACT Though the promotion of resistant bacteria worldwide has mainly been attributed to the injudicious use of many antibiotics, the role of non-antimicrobial drugs used in the clinical management of pathological conditions of non-infectious diseases in the modulation of microbial drug resistance or susceptibility needs to be assessed. The effects of the antibioticnon- antibiotic drug-drug interactions against bacteria in SCD patients and in other chronic diseases cannot be overemphasized...
ABSTRACT Over the years, natural products have played a major role in the search for novel drugs or drug candidates. Secondary metabolites from nature especially those of fungal origin exhibit unique biological activities and research continue to meet the keen interests which have potential pharmaceutical value. Fungi constitute an important source of secondary metabolites such as penicillin. The present study analyzed the biological activities of a variety of compound mixtures from wood deca...
ABSTRACT The continual emergence of drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has caused global public health concerns. This project establishes basis for deciphering diverse resistance mechanisms in mycobacteria which would lead to the development of novel therapeutic options. Unique classes of antipsychotic compounds have been found to possess antifungal and anti-mycobacterial activities. The study sought to use antipsychotic compounds and a panel of phenotype modifying compounds...
ABSTRACT Pearl millet is a staple food and fodder crop of marginal areas of sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Americas. Although pearl millet is stable food for 70 % of Namibian population, its productivity is very low (low yield, susceptible to diseases/insect and prolonged reproductive cycle) and has a limited genetic diversity. For the purpose of widening gene diversity, developing high yielding and drought resistant pearl millet, the Kangara and Okashana 2 were mutated using Colbalt...
ABSTRACT , Proteolytic activity of theJQ.qOOxgsupernate of homegenates ef adult Haemonchus contortus has been studied with respect to substrates susceptible to its proteolytic activity, and the effects of factors such as temperature, pH, substrate concentration, extract concentration, dibasic metal ions, detergents, heat and some specific inhibitors of proteolytic activity. The supernate had two pH optima, 5.6 with haemoglobii as substrate, and 7.8 using L-alanyl - p-nitroanilide. It showed o...
ABSTRACT Tick-borne pathogens and ticks pose significant problem to livestock production especially cattle production. This causes huge economic decline to livestock farmers in tropic and sub-tropic regions of Africa. The most economically important tick-borne pathogens to the production of bovine include Babesia, Anaplasma, Theileria and Ehrlichia. In Ghana, inadequate data exists on the species and genetic diversity of tick-borne hemoparasites. The current study was conducted to detect and ...