The Pharmaceutical and Chemical Journal

9-15

Authors: Zela Aljesri, M. Hakki Alma, Yusuf Yildirim, Eyyüp Karaoğul, Selman Sarica

Objective: To find out the effects of various natural cerumenolytic products (e.g. ascorbic acid, α-tocopherol, rosemary, pine turpentine, pergamote, chestnut, rosehip and rose oils, and onion tincture) as well as distilled water and pure olive oil on the disintegration/dissolution of cerumen. Method: Cerumen was provided by mechanical removal from adult patients who attended the otolaryngology clinic. Each cerumen sample was placed in a tube containing one of eleven test solutions. The cerumens undissolved were weighed at specific time intervals. e.g., 1 hour, 5 hours, 1 days, 2 days and 5 days. The efficacy of these oils and vitamins were evaluated by measuring the weight of cerumen part disintegrated/undissolved. Results: The results showed that highest percentage of cerumen disintegration was found for ascorbic acid within 1 hour, followed by pine oil and distilled water in 5 hours, onion tincture in 5 hours, chestnut oil in 2 days, rose oil and α-tocopherol in 5 days, respectively. However, rose, pergamote, chestnut and rosemary oils along with α-tocopherol and onion tincture disintegrated entirely the cerumen within 5 days only, except for olive oil and rosehip oil having the disintegration ratio of about 68% within 5 days. Conclusion: It could be concluded that the products studied here could be used as cerumenolytic products having different disintegration period depending upon their chemical composition. Furthermore, distilled water showed the greater degree of cerumenolysis compared to oil-based cerumenolytics.

25-31

Authors: Tarek A. Elbashiti

Staphylokinase (SAK) is abacterial kinase produced by certain strains of Staphylococcus spp. It is a 14.5 kDa, consisting of 136 amino acids single polypeptidechain protein, which activates plasminogen to form plasmin and digest fibrin clots. SAK is a promising thrombolytic agent for the treatment of myocardial infarction. The present research was carried out to produce SAK from locally isolated lysogenic Staphylococcus aureus. The main focus of this work was to isolate and characterize lysogenic S. aureus from various environmental samples involving non-pathogenic Staphylococcus spp., while the earlier isolation was done using pathogenic samples.

41-47

Authors: Clément M. Mbadiko, Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua, Pius T. Mpiana, Mutambel ’ Hity, Ruffin N. Kikakedimau, Gisèle K. Makengo, Aaron L. Pambu, Landry L. Kemfine, Gédéon N. Bongo, Théophile F. Mbemba

The present study was conducted in order to justify the use of Afromomum melegueta seeds intraditional medicine for the treatment of certain infectious diseases and to assess the influence of heat during the extraction of the active principles of the drug decoction on the antibacterial activity. Then, a bacteriological study was conducted to compare the antibacterial activity of the total aqueous and ethanolic extracts. In this study, it was also necessary question of testing the hypothesis that the addition of native salt in the total aqueous extracts of A. melegueta seeds in traditional medicine optimizes the antibacterial activity against three bacterial strains of which Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp. and Staphylococcus aureus. A phytochemical screening was performed to identify the major chemical groups present in total extracts (aqueous and ethanolic) of A. melegueta seeds. The results showed that all tested samples have the antibacterial activity. However, the addition of native salt and aqueous extract mixture of A. melegueta seeds seems to have an antagonistic effect and showed a low activity compared to aqueous extracts tested individually. In addition, the aqueous extracts, in particular the macerated revealed a strong activity on the bacterial strains tested compared to other extracts. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins and total polyphenols in the aqueous extracts and the presence of quinones, steroids and triterpenoids in the ethanolic extracts. The seeds of A. melegueta have antibacterial molecules and can be used for the treatment of certain infectious diseases especially for Klebsiella infections.

60-66

Authors: Maduka Ignatius C, Egwu Mary Chinyere

Non insulin dependent diabetes also known as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and can have devastating consequences on quality of life. Diagnosis of Acute cardiac event in the early stage of its onset is important in the treatment process, and the development of highly sensitive and specific immunoassays for myocardial proteins such as cardiac Troponin I (cTnI) and Creatine kinase-MB had made it possible. The identification of subjects with high risk of developing cardiac event in the future is more significant as it will provide time to prevent such incidents. Alcohol is also a risk factor for both diabetes and cardiovascular disorder. This paper is aimed at evaluating the relationship between alcohol and cardiac markers like CK-MB, Troponin I and lipid profile in Non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus subjects. A total of 200 adult male (aged 30-70 years) subjects were selected by stratified random sampling technique and by administration of questionnaire. Glucose, lipid profile, and CK-MB levels of these subjects were assayed using 2012 Shenzhen mindray semi-auto Chemistry Analyzer, model BA-88A. Troponin I was assayed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The blood glucose levels of both men who reported to be diabetic and non diabetic were assayed to reconfirm those who were diabetics and the non diabetics. Statistical package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 software was used to analyze the data obtained in this study. Values were expressed as mean ± standard deviation Level of significant was taken at p<0.05. The results show that Creatine Kinase-MB is significantly higher in diabetics than in non diabetic male subjects (p = 0.004). There are also significantly increased levels of total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, and troponin I in alcoholic type 2 diabetic men when compared to the corresponding non alcoholic diabetics. Also, the result shows that alcohol positively associated with troponin I, triglyceride, and fasting blood sugar in alcoholic diabetics. From this study, lipid profile levels can still be used in screening populations to identify the subjects with high risk of developing cardiac event which is identified by highly sensitive and specific positive Troponin test. Alcoholic diabetic subjects are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease than non alcoholic diabetic subjects with same anthropometric factors.

72-76

Authors: M. Panneerselvam

The effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on root colonization, growth and nutrient content of (Coleus aromaticus) was investigated as complete randomized design with 4 treatments and 4 replications. Fungi inoculation treatments consisted: Gf (Glomus fasciculatum), Glomus margarita and NM (non-mycorrhizal). The results showed mycorrhizal plants significantly had higher shoot and root dry weight, as well as N, P, K, Ca, Fe, Cu and Mg concentration compared to non-inoculated plants. The effect of AM fungi inoculation on the root colonization, growth parameters dry weight of Coleus aromaticus are more pronounced with G. fasciculatum than other AM fungi. It is concluded that G. fasciculatum was more effective than other species, which may indicate effective symbiotic potential of this strain with Coleus roots.

82-87

Authors: Uno UU, Ogbe HO, Okolo CM, Ekaluo UB, Akwa BU

Extract of Annona spp. have been used for several medicinal purposes such as the management of diabetes and its complications, also as antioxidant and antimutagenic agents. Hence, the mitigating effect of soursop (A. muricata) leaf extract on sperm toxicity induced by caffeine was assessed on the weight of testes and epididymes, epididymal sperm count, motility, viability, semen pH and sperm head abnormality in albino rats as a model. The male rats were divided into six groups of six rats each. The rats were administered with treatments of caffeine and Soursop Tea (SST) for 65 days. Results obtained revealed a significant (p<0.05) decrease in the weight of epididymes, sperm motility, sperm viability and sperm count while sperm head abnormalities significantly increased in caffeine – treated animals. No significant differences were observed in semen pH and weight of testes. In conclusion, SST mitigated the caffeine-induced toxicity on weight of epididymes, sperm motility, sperm viability, sperm count and sperm head abnormality in the mammalian models in a dose – dependent manner.