International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 10 (1), pp. 001-003, January, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Short Communication

Effect of medical herbs in lowering the levels of bilirubin in neonatal blood samples

Seyed Hessamedin Nabavizadeh¹, Ozair-bin Majid² and Amir Anushiravani²*

¹Department of Pediatrics Allergy and Immunology, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences, Iran.

²Department of Pediatrics, Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.

Accepted 18 October, 2020

Abstract

Herbal drug therapy is a common practice adopted in traditional and alternative medicine and has been used in the treatment of neonatal jaundice or hyperbilirubinemia from ancient times. This is done with the help of different herbal extracts and using different treatment methods. The knowledge of new possibilities and the fact that herbal drugs have been used in some communities for a long time, clarifies the importance of studying herbal drugs. Herbal drug therapies are used commonly which amplifies the need to evaluate the efficacy of these drugs. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of commonly used herbal drugs in neonatal jaundice, through in vitro techniques. In this study 0.5 cc (50 µg/ml) of different herbal extracts such as Chi corium intybus, Fumaria parviflora, Zizyphus jujuba and Alhagi pseudoalhgi, Purgative manna which were obtained through hydrochloric instillation and were added to 1 cc of neonatal serum with hyperbilirubinemia. Then the level of bilirubin was checked by diazo blank method. Among all of the herbal extracts, only Chi corium intybus demonstrated a lowering effect on indirect serum bilirubin. Although Chi corium intybus showed lower levels than the control group, but statistically there was no significant difference in direct bilirubin levels between these groups. Herbal drugs can decrease the bilirubin level through different mechanisms, such as increasing the activity of liver enzymes and decreasing the enterohepatic circulation. But the extract of the herb Chi corium intybus imposes its affect directly on bilirubin. Therefore further investigation is needed in order to separate the active agent in chi corium intybus.

Key words: Hyperbilirubinemia, Fumaria parviflora, Zizyphus jujuba, Chi corium intybus, Alhagi pseudoalhagi, Purgative manna.

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 10 (1), pp. 001-004, January, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

A study of the hepatomodulatory activity of Apium graveolens L. (celery) seed extract in rats against DEHP induced liver toxicity

G. C. Jain,* Hemant Pareek, B. S. Khajja, Kusum Jain, S. Jhalani, S. Agarwal and Sameer Sharma

Reproductive Physiology Section, Department of Zoology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur - 302004, India.

Accepted 17 October, 2020

Abstract

In the present study, the hepatoprotective activity of methanolic extract of Apium graveolens L. (celery) seeds was tested against Di-(2- ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Oral administration of DEHP (1000 mg/kg b.wt/day) for 6 weeks in rats caused a significant increase in the levels of serum marker enzymes like serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase (SGPT), alkaline phosphatases (ALP) and the levels of total bilirubin and hepatic lipid peroxidation (TBARS). The levels of serum protein, hepatic glutathione (GSH) and ascorbic acid were decreased, administration of A. graveolens seeds extract (300 mg/kg b.wt./day p.o.) for 6 weeks results in a significant recovery of these biochemical parameters toward normalcy compared with the DEPC treated and control rats.

Key words: Apium graveolens, hepatic toxicity, di-(2- ethylhexyl) phthalate, hepatic marker enzymes.

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 10 (1), pp. 001-007, January, 2021. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effect of crocin and curcumin on biochemical alterations associated with iron overload-in-duced liver injury in rats

Shohda A. EL-Maraghy, Sherine M. Rizk and Maha M. El-Sawalhi*

Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.

Accepted 21 October, 2020

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the possible ameliorating effect of crocin and curcumin on certain biochemical alterations associated with iron overload-induced liver injury in rats. 5 groups of rats were used, a normal control group received daily i.p. injections of saline and 4 groups received daily i.p. injections of ferric nitrilotriacetate (FeNTA) for 8 successive days, the dose of iron was increased during the experimental period (from 6 to 15 mg Fe/kg). The first iron overloaded group kept without further treatment and served as a positive control group. The second iron overloaded group received daily i.p injections of crocin (200 mg/kg) in saline. The 3^rd and the 4^th iron overloaded groups received orally either 0.5% carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) or curcumin (100 mg/kg) in CMC respectively. Treatment started 3 days before and concurrently with iron administration for 8 days. Results revealed that iron- induced liver injury was reflected by significant changes in the liver function indices, hyperammonemia and reduced serum urea level. A significant deposition of iron in liver was associated with enhanced oxidative and nitrosative stress status. Moreover, iron overloaded rats exhibited significant alterations in liver energy metabolism together with diminished ureogenesis and a decline in dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase activity. Supplementation with either crocin or curcumin ameliorated most of the biochemical changes induced by iron overload in rat liver. A function that may be beneficial for populations at risk for iron overload.

Key words: Iron overload, liver, rat, oxidative stress, energy metabolism, ureogenesis, crocin, curcumin.

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 9 (9), pp. 001-005, September, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Some valuable fatty acids exposed from wedge clam Donax cuneatus (Linnaeus)

Annaian Shanmugam, Chendur Palpandi* and Subramanium Sambasivam

Centre of Advanced in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai – 608 502 Tamil Nadu, India.

Accepted 14 June 2020

 Abstract

The fatty acid composition of the wedge clam Donax cuneatus collected from the sandy beach of Cuddalore (southeast coast of India) was determined. In the analysis, the fatty acid profile by gas chromatography revealed the presence of higher amount of saturated fatty acids (35.28%) than mono (12.71%) and polyunsaturated (11.72%) fatty acids. Among the saturated fatty acids, the stearic acid contributed the maximum amount of 15.68%. Whereas the monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were accounted for 26.57% with mostly 16:1w7c (12.71%), fatty acid. Among the PUFA 20:4 w6c (6.75%) and 18:2 w6c (2.41%) acid contents were high. Omega – 6 fatty acids accounted for 10.74% of total PUFA and omega – 3 fatty acids were accounted for 0.48%. Thus the present study enlightens the possible role of this clam in the field of human nutrition.

Key words: Fatty acids, SFA, MUFA, PUFA, Donax cuneatus

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 9 (8), pp. 001-004, August, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research paper

Evaluation of biofilm production by Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates from nosocomial infections and skin of healthy volunteers

Fereshteh Eftekhar^*and Zeinab Mirmohamadi

Microbiology Department, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C., Evin, Tehran, Iran.

Accepted 19 May, 2020

Abstract

Staphylococcus epidermidis is a frequent cause of nosocomial infections. The major virulence factor is thought to be biofilm formation by the organism mediated by gene products of the icaADBC operon. In this research, biofilm phenotype and icaADBC gene carriage were studied in 50 S. epidermidis isolates from symptomatic patients (group A) and 50 skin isolates from healthy individuals (group B). Biofilm phenotype was shown by colony morphology on Congo red agar and the microtiter plate method was used for quantitative measurement of biofilm formation. Polymerase chain reaction was employed to detect the presence of icaADBC operon. The results showed no significant difference between the two groups of isolates for the potential to form biofilms by the two phenotypic assays or the amounts of biofilm produced by the two groups of isolates. On the other hand, ica gene carriage was more discriminatory and was observed in 30% of group A isolates compared to 8% of the skin isolates. We conclude that S. epidermidis isolates from patients with symptomatic infections are not necessarily more virulent from the skin contaminants and the capacity to form biofilms in vivo is influenced by environmental stimuli independent of the icaADBC gene products.

Key words: Biofilm, Staphylococcus epidermidis, icaADBC, patients isolates, skin isolates.

International Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology ISSN 2326-7291 Vol. 9 (7), pp. 001-006, July, 2020. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Detection and partial characterization of norovirus among children with acute gastroenteritis in Lagos, Nigeria

C. I. Ayolabi^1*, D. A. Ojo², G. E. Armah³, I. Akpan² and C. F. Mafiana²

¹Department of Botany and Microbiology, University of Lagos, Nigeria.

²Dept. of Microbiology, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.

³Noguchi Memorial institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Ghana.

Accepted 09 June, 2020

Abstract

Norovirus (NoV) has captured increasing attention as an agent of childhood diarrhea, but its incidence in developing countries such as Nigeria has been underreported. This study was conducted to investigate the role of NoVs in sporadic cases of acute diarrhea among hospitalized children. One hundred and eighty-eight (188) specimens comprising 161 diarrheic and 27 non-diarrheic stools were randomly selected from 668 stools previously screened for rotaviruses. These specimens were collected from children under 5 years of age who were hospitalized between November 2007 and May 2008 in Lagos, Nigeria. The specimens were examined for NoV antigen using monoclonal antibody-based enzyme immunoassay (EIA), and the positive specimens were further characterized for norovirus genogroups using reverse transcription-Polymerase chain reactions (RT-PCR) technique. NoV was detected in 60/161 (37.3%) of diarrhoeal and 1(3.7%) of non diarrhoeal children tested. Noroviruses were detected throughout the study period with most patients infected in age group 6 - 12 months. More males were infected with NoV than females however, the difference was not significant (² = 0.983, p 0.05). Sixteen among the positive samples were amplified by PCR using specific primers, of these, 5 (31%) were typed to be GI, 8 (50%) were GII and three samples (19%) showed a mixed infection of norovirus GI and GII genogroups. This study confirmed the relevance of NoV as a causative agent of pediatric diarrhoea and reported norovirus genogroup GII as the predominant type in circulation in Lagos, Nigeria.

Key words: Diarrhoea, norovirus, RT-PCR, children, Nigeria.