ABSTRACT In the present study miraculin, a non-nutritive taste modifier from the tropical plant, Richardella dulcifica has been purified to homogeneity. It was extracted from the pulp of the fruits in 0.5M NaCl and purified at ordinary temperatures by a three step chromatographic process namely; Hydrophobic interaction chromatography, (HIC), Ion exchange chromatography, (IEC), and Gel filtration chromatography (GFC) respectively. The relative molecular weight (Mr) of purified miraculin was a...
ABSTRACT Uterine peroxidase has been induced in immature female rate with estradiol and anovlar 21. Anovlar 21 is a steroid contraceptive containing 4 mg. norethisterone acetate (a progestin)t and 0.05 mg. ethinyl estradiol (an estrogen) per tablet. Maximum enzyme activity was found to occur 24 hours after oral administration of the contraceptive. The increased peroxidase activity accused by the eonbined steroids was inhibited by the administration of aycloheximide and puromycin (inhibitors o...
ABSTRACT Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major cause of liver inflammation accounting for 887,000 deaths annually. The introduction of HBV vaccines has significantly reduced new cases of the infection, but there are still 65 million people living with the virus in Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, 10 genotypes (A-J) of HBV have been classified. Several studies have shown that the different HBV genotypes differently influence clinical presentation, progression of liver diseases and respons...
ABSTRACT Adult filariae apparently lack the vitamin BI2-dependent and -independent methyltransferases for the de novo synthesis of metonline and seem to meet their requirement of this amino acid from an exogenous source and the activity of S - a d e nos y lm et hi o ni ne ( Ad o Me t) : homocysteine S-methyltransferase. The properties of filarial AdoMet: homocysteine methyltransferase was similar to the analogous microbial enzyme. However, adult filariae possess the enzymatic capability to...
ABSTRACT Diabetes mellitus, is a metabolic disorder caused by the inability of the beta pancreatic cells to adequately produce insulin or due to insulin resistance of cells. As a result of the increasingly high incidence of diabetes globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has set timelines and guidelines for the reduction of the risk of mortalities and morbidities associated with noncommunicable diseases including diabetes, by the year 2030. However, this agenda is hinged on the availa...
ABSTRACT Plasmodium falciparum, like other Apicomplexans, has retained a relict plastid known as the apicoplast. This organelle represents a new and exciting target for the chemotherapeutic management of malaria because it houses metabolic pathways that are unique to the parasite such as isoprenoid biosynthesis. The phytoene synthase (PSY) gene, has been demonstrated to be very important in carotenogenesis, however, little is known about the evolutionary relatedness of this gene in P. falci...
ABSTRACT An anti-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin 10 (IL-10) suppresses T-helper 1 cells (Th1) route and enhances the Th2 route in mice by boosting the antibody response. The present work studied the effect of exogenous IL-10 in the system of BALB/C mice during the development severe anaemia. BALB/C mice developed severe anaemia within 2-3 weeks after inoculation with 106 parasitised RBCs (pRBCs) intraperitoneally. BALB/C mice treated with recombinant IL-10 developed patent parasitaemia o...
ABSTRACT Invasive Non-Typhoidal Salmonella infections have become widespread in sub-Saharan Africa. Predominant hyper-virulent clone S. Typhimurium ST313 is found to be associated with bloodstream invasion and multidrug resistance. Despite its importance, limited information is available on the circulating genotypes causing invasive non-typhoidal salmonellosis in Ghana. A total of fifty-one NTS isolates from pediatric blood samples was used for this study. The resistance profiles of isolates...
ABSTRACT A total of 484 children aged between 1 -10 years who reported at the emergency unit of the Department of Child Health, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital with clinical malaria were recruited for this study. The children were categorized into four main groups of clinical malaria namely, severe malaria anaemia (SA), cerebral malaria (CM), uncomplicated malaria (UM) and intravascular haemolysis, or bloody urine (IVH). The aim of the study was to determine the role of complement activation in th...
ABSTRACT The suitability o f five Schistosoma genus-specific monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) (Sh3/34.10, Sh3/38.2, Sh4/14.3, Sh5/32.30 and Sh5/34.10) in detecting schistosome antigens in infected human and cattle was evaluated. These antibodies were employed in various diagnostic assays to diagnose human and animal schistosomiasis. Extant MoAb secreting hybridoma cells were first propagated in culture to produce the MoAbs. The culture supernatants containing secreted antibodies were analysed by...
ABSTRACT The ameliorative potential of Psidium guajava leaf ethanol extract on Paraquat induced toxicity and oxidative stress in Albino Rats were investigated. Thirty (30) healthy male wistar rats were divided into five groups of six animals each. Group 1 served as the normal control (NC) and received normal saline, Group 2 (Intoxicated control) received 3.5mg/kg of paraquat. Group 3 (PG200) received 200mg/kg PG leaf extract + 3.5mg/kg PQ, Group 4 (PG400) received 400mg/kg PG leaf extract +...
ABSTRACT Diabetes mellitus, is a metabolic disorder caused by the inability of the beta pancreatic cells to adequately produce insulin or due to insulin resistance of cells. As a result of the increasingly high incidence of diabetes globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has set timelines and guidelines for the reduction of the risk of mortalities and morbidities associated with noncommunicable diseases including diabetes, by the year 2030. However, this agenda is hinged on the avai...
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 The Albumin Blue 580 fluorescent dye was evaluated for the measurement of urine albumin content. The calibration of the assay was linear up to 150.0mg/L with a minimum detection limit of 1.4mg/L. The intraassay CV was 4.3%(14.5mg/L), 3.7%(50.2mg/L) and 1.4%(100.0mg/L), interassay CV was 2.7%, 2.6% and 3.7% for the respective urine albumin concentrations. Recovery of added albumin to urine was 95-112%, reproducibility for 9 replicate analysis of 3 urine samples was 8.2%(6.0mg/L), 4.6%...
ABSTRACT Background: Dengue and malaria are two important mosquito-borne diseases. Together, both diseases are indistinguishable due to similarities in clinical and laboratory characteristics. These similarities have contributed immensely to the overdiagnosis of malaria and the under-recognition of dengue in many countries in subSaharan Africa. No baseline study has yet been conducted in Ghana to estimate the burden of dengue. This study therefore set out to estimate the prevalence of dengue ...