Sarah Nwozo

University of Ibadan · Department of Biochemistry

For decades, patients in East Africa have used herbal medicine as an alternative and affordable therapeutic option for the treatment of diseases such as Diabetes Mellitus (DM). As a result, the primary objective of this research was to thoroughly investigate the plants employed for treating DM in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic...

Hyperkalaemia is potentially a life-threatening medical condition characterized by higher-than-normal potassium in the blood. It can result in cardiac arrhythmias which is a serious heart problem and subsequently can lead to a sudden death. Impaired kidney function, such as chronic kidney disease or acute kidney injury, can hinder the proper excret...

Mycotoxins are toxic fungal metabolites that exert various toxicities, including leading to death in lethal doses. This study developed a novel high-pressure acidified steaming (HPAS) for detoxification of mycotoxins in foods and feed. The raw materials, maize and peanut/groundnut, were used for the study. The samples were separated into raw and pr...

Oxidation is an integral part of aerobic processes of life. It involves the transfer of electrons or hydrogen via a chemical reaction from a substance to an oxidizing agent leading to the production of free radicals. These free radicals which are highly reactive in turn initiate a chain of reactions that lead to cellular damage. The etiology of ple...

Background: Nutrition as therapy for treatment has continued to become popular in improving health conditions, as well as in the prevention and management of diseases. Owing to this, the present study evaluated the role of Cajanus cajan supplementation in diabetes, induced by a combination of high-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin injection in m...

Mycotoxins contaminating agricultural commodities like animal, and plant products result in human health complications, some are hidden, visible, chronic, and or acute, and others long-term. To understand the current status, published relevant reviews conducted between 2020-2021 about mycotoxins toxicities involving animals, food, and human showed...

Nauclea latifolia smith (family: Rubiaceae) is a valued medicinal plant widely distributed in the West and Central Africa with notable therapeutic values supporting its usage in the treatment of various ailments. This research focused on the investigation of the methanol extract of the plants’ fruits for phytochemical content, antioxidant and anti-...

Mycotoxins are well established toxic metabolic entities produced when fungi invade agricultural/farm produce, and this happens especially when the conditions are favourable. Exposure to mycotoxins can directly take place via the consumption of infected foods and feeds; humans can also be indirectly exposed from consuming animals fed with infected...

There has been an increase in the development of metabolic syndrome worldwide. This is due to increasing incidence of diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia; increased intake of junk foods; and decreased physical activity. Available treatments options have side effects and are not readily accessible to the vast majority of people because of their cost...

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder which leads to complications that affect the heart, kidney, liver and other vital organs. Most reports on diabetes have focused on diabetes induction using male rat models in short term studies. Objective: Here, we described the induction of diabetes in female rats and the complications of diabe...

Highlighting the nutritional benefit of oil gleaned from the seed of sweet orange Citrus sinensis has become necessary; owing to the fact that the seed is predominantly considered a waste. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the nutritional benefits of oil extracted from the seed of sweet orange Citrus sinensis of the family;...

Background: Nutrition as therapy for treatment has continued to become popular in improving health conditions, as well as in the prevention and management of diseases. Owing to this, the present study evaluated the role of Cajanus cajan supplementation in diabetes, induced by a combination of high-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin injection in m...

The extracted seeds of African breadfruit are identified to be extremely healthy whenever it is correctly processed. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of processing methods on the nutritional quality of African breadfruit seed. A qualitative phytochemical analysis including: Alkaloid, Flavonoid, Saponin, Tannin, An...

The human population is predisposed to some considerable amounts of radiation especially ionizing radiation which may negatively impact their metabolic processes. Herbal extracts can mitigate these harmful effects. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the protective effect of n-Hexane extracts of Telfairia occidentalis and Cucumeropsis mannii...

Reproductive dysfunction following insulin deficiency in Diabetes Mellitus has been well reported among diabetic patients. However, the mechanism through which Diabetes alters reproductive function remains oblivion. While most studies have focused on diabetes mellitus in male subjects, there have been cases on altered reproductive functions in fema...

dose of 150 mg/kg glucose showed there was a rapid blood sugar level clearance in HFD+STZ+CEO as compared to untreated group (HFD+STZ). Atherogenic index (AIP) levels was significantly (p < 0.05) lowered in the treated groups (HFD+STZ+GLI 0.262 ± 0.40 and HFD+STZ+CEO 0.18 ± 0.03) when compared to untreated groups (HFD+STZ 0.495 ± 0.66 and NFD+STZ 0...

Plant based therapies may be a potent means of managing and preventing diabetes and currently, combination therapies are employed for the treatment of critical diseases. In view of this, the objectives of the present study was to investigate the hypoglycemic and antioxidant capacity C. longa, V. album and co-treatment with C. longa + V. album on di...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the co-administration of aqueous leaf extracts of Momordica charantia and Boerhaavia diffusa on Streptozotocin induced Diabetes in Male Wistar Rats. A total of 36 male wistar rats between the weights of 100-120g were divided into six (6) groups (n=6), five (5) groups received I.P. Streptozotocin (60mg/kg) and th...

Poyphenol rich stem bark of Piptadenia africana (PA) is used to treat gastric pain, fever, cough and we evaluated the effect of daily, continual intake of PA for eight weeks in hypercholesterolemic rats. Thirty six rats were divided into six equal groups, A (positive-control); B (cholesterol) (negative-control); C (100 mg/kg bwt PA); D (200 mg/kg b...

Background: Lesser known fruits are often poorly consumed compared to the imported variety and we do not have data base of their nutritive contents. Materials and methods: The brix, pH, titratable acidity, proximate, vitamin, mineral content and antioxidant activity a of juice from ten local lesser known and imported fruits: Solanum melongena L (Eg...

Due to high cost of protein relative to other major nutrients, as part of search for cheaper alternative source for good quality protein for dietary purposes, we evaluated Detarium senegalense seed meal by comparing growth performance, tissue and reproductive toxicity markers in rats with those on soybean. Defatted Detarium senegalense (DDS) ground...

In recent years, indigenous medicinal plants exhibiting diverse biological activities have been explored in the amelioration of hepatotoxicity. This study investigates the protective effect of Monodora myristica (MM) on cadmium-induced liver damage in experimental animals. Male Wistar albino rats were maintained on 200 mg/L cadmium: Cd (Cd as CdCl2...

Zinc (Zn) is known to interact with lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) reversing their toxicity and reducing their concentrations. However, lactating women are at high risk of developing Zn deficiency, which may result in Pb and Cd intoxication or increased exposure of breast-fed infants to Pb and Cd from breast milk. The aim of this study was to determine...

Background: Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several acute and chronic diseases of the heart as a result of indiscriminate exposure to cardiotoxic heavy metals. The study reported here was designed to evaluate the possible ameliorative effect of aqueous extracts from Sesamum indicum (SI) seeds on oxidative stress induced...

In vitro studies on crude extracts of Piptandenia africana (PA) and Nauclea latifolia (NL) showed promising anti proliferative effects on Hela, MCF7 and ICMST-6 cell lines. Furtherance to these finding, we examined the anti-tumorigenic effect of NL and PA on N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN) induced hepatic tumors in Wistar rats as potential phytotherape...

Background: Eugenia caryophyllus (clove) is an important aromatic household spice. The plant is believed to possess medicinal properties and is commonly used in herbal preparations by traditional healers in the treatment of different ailments and diseases.

AbstrAct to evaluate the cholesterol lowering potential and protective ability of aqueous extract of Monodora myristica experimental hypercholesterolemic rats, a short-term study was conducted. Hypercholesterolemia was induced by administering cholesterol orally at a dose of 40 mg/kg/0.3 ml. Plant extracts 100 or 200 mg/ kg body weight and Questran...

This paper proposes that exposure to radiation could generate free radicals, which could lead to disorders such as heamolysis-induced anaemia. We evaluated the radioprotective potentials of Cochorous olitorious and Adasonia digitata methanol leaves extract in gamma radiation induced anaemia. Fifty four adult male Wistar rats were divided into nine...

Low doses (one-fourth of the LD50) of dichlorvos (DDVP), lambda-cyhalothrin (LMB), cypermethrin (CPM), and imidacloprid (IMP) were administered to adult male Wistar rats for 3 weeks. Erythrocyte antioxidant enzymes, biomarkers of tissue toxicity and histopathology of some visceral organs, were assessed. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), glu...

Alcohol consumption is a major culprit in the production of reactive oxygen species that enhances lipid peroxidation in the liver. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of daily oral administration of methanol stem bark extract of Piptadenia africana in ethanol induced hepatotoxicity. Thirty six male rats were randomly assigned into six gro...

The present study is aimed at evaluating the protective effects of oils from Zingiber officinale (ginger) and Curcuma longa (turmeric) on acute ethanol-induced fatty liver in male Wistar rats. Ferric reducing antioxidant power activity and oxygen radical absorbance capacity of the oils were evaluated ex vivo. Rats were pretreated for 28 d with stan...

Thevetia Neriifolia was analyzed for fatty acid composition by using Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometer (GC-MS). The oil consist of 97.583% fatty acid of which the most abundant is the monounsaturated (C18H34O2) Oleic acid (52%), and the others are saturated fatty acids (C18H36O2) Stearic acid (25%) and the other...

A comparative study of BCA patients on chemotherapy/radiotherapy and immune booster supplements (combination of essential vitamins and minerals) with apparently healthy controls was investigated by assessing the lipid profile, hepatic transaminases (plasma AST, ALT) total bilurubin, lipid peroxidation and enzymatic and non -enzymatic antioxidant-su...

This study was carried out to evaluate the radioprotective potential of aqueous extract of seeds of Aframomum melegueta (A.M.) against gamma radiation-induced (6Gy) liver damage in male Wistar rats. Thirty male rats were randomly distributed into six groups of five animals each and aqueous extract of A.M. was administered at a dose of 200 or 400 mg...

Concentrations of metals (copper, zinc, lead and iron) were examined in some popular brands of canned tomato paste in Nigerian markets with a view of providing information on the risk associated with the consumption of these products. Samples of some popular brands of tomato pastes canned in metallic containers were analyzed for levels of copper, z...

Objective: Herbal medicinal products play an important role in the management of liver diseases for the lack of satisfactory liver protective drugs in allopathic medical practices. Searching for hepatoprotective drugs with high efficacy and safety is of great need. Our aim is to evaluate the hepatoprotective and antioxidant effect of aqueous extrac...

The vitamin C content of many "Made in Nigeria" fruit products is not known for sure, since Nutrition Labeling is usually absent. Furthermore the change in the concentration with increasing shelf-life is not certain. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content of sixteen different fruit preserves made in Nigeria was assessed, on the day of production and aft...

The consumption and export cassava or cassava product is on the increase, thus more Nigerians are involved in the planting and processing of cassava stems and tubers respectively. Tropical ataxic neuropathy (TAN) and diabetes Mellitus (DM) are among the cassava-cyanide induced conditions in rural Nigerians that engaged in processing and consumption...

Pigeon haemoglobin lacks an observable organic phosphate-induced additional Bohr effect, whereas the closely related chicken haemoglobin exhibits an additional Bohr effect. Moreover, the addition of one mole of inositol hexakisphosphate (inositol-P6) to one mole of pigeon haemoglobin tetramers increases the partial pressure by 21.6 mmHg for 50% sat...