Ikechukwu Peter

Purpose: Inflammation of various degrees is common among humans. There are associated side effects with orthodox delivery systems and anti-inflammatory agents; hence, the study investigated the characteristics of herbal lipospheres and the anti-inflammatory potency of the lipospheres formulated from Pentaclethra macrophylla with the view to having a drug with a better delivery system and lesser side effects. Methods: Herbal lipospheres were formulated using solidified reverse micellar solutions (SRMS) of P90H and goat fat and characterized for particle size and morphology, pH time dependent analysis, encapsulation efficiency (EE%), and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy. The in vitro antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory studies were carried out using membrane stabilization by hypotonicity-induced hemolysis and the determination of anti-platelet aggregatory activity models. The in vivo antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory studies on egg albumin- and formaldehyde-induced arthri...

Globally, cancer is one of the deadliest diseases, needing a meticulous diagnosis and targeted treatment plan to achieve an initial prognosis, followed by precision and optimization in treatment. Nonselective targeting, difficulty in accurately monitoring treatment end-results, serious drug side-effects, and severity of disease resulting in metastasis are the key flaws of traditional techniques. Nanotechnology and nanoparticles possess special features to completely transform the field of diagnosis and treatment of cancer. A holistic strategy that employs a dual function of diagnosis and therapy while utilizing a nanocarrier is referred to as a nanotheranostic. The nanotheranostic framework was created to surmount a variety of biological and physiological obstacles, effectively delivering the cargo to the intended target location, while simultaneously facilitating therapeutic intervention, surveillance, and validation to demonstrate improved treatment effectiveness. As a result, a n...

Purpose: Oxidative stress is responsible for over seventy five diseases and other harmful cytological challenges including cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus, lipid peroxidation, distortion of cell membrane integrity, shortening of telomerase among others. Antioxidant potency of any plant is a very positive remedy to the debilitating effects of prooxidants and oxidants. The study was aimed at investigating the antioxidant potency of methanol extract of Pentaclethra macrophylla stem bark- in vitro and in vivo. Methods: Different phytochemicals were determined using standard methods. Nitric oxide, 1, 1-diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, total antioxidant capacity and ferric reducing/anti-radical power were used to investigate the in vitro antioxidant activity. Catalase assay, superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde and glutathione peroxidase were used to determine the in vivo antioxidant efficacy using six groups of five rats. Results: The result showed various...

Several researches have established the antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities of the seeds and stem bark of Monodora myristica while scientific data on the pharmacological activities of the roots is sparse. Hence, this work evaluated the effects of methanol extract of the root bark of M. myristica on acute and chronic inflammation. The root bark was extracted by cold maceration in methanol to yield methanol crude extract (MME). MME was subjected to phytochemical screening and acute toxicity test. The effects of MME on acute inflammation were evaluated using carrageenan induced rat paw edema and xylene induced topical ear edema in mice. While formaldehyde induced arthritis and cotton pellet induced granuloma in rats were used to investigate its effects on chronic inflammation. The MME was found to be relatively safe (LD50 >5000 mg/kg). Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of glycosides, carbohydrates, reducing sugars, resins, terpenoids, steroid and ...

Secondary metabolites from marine sources have a wide range of biological activity. Marine natural products are promising candidates for lead pharmacological compounds to treat diseases that plague humans, including cancer. Cancer is a life-threatening disorder that has been difficult to overcome. It is a long-term illness that affects both young and old people. In recent years, significant attempts have been made to identify new anticancer drugs, as the existing drugs have been useless due to resistance of the malignant cells. Natural products derived from marine sources have been tested for their anticancer activity using a variety of cancer cell lines derived from humans and other sources, some of which have already been approved for clinical use, while some others are still being tested. These compounds can assault cancer cells via a variety of mechanisms, but certain cancer cells are resistant to them. As a result, the goal of this review was to look into the anticancer potenti...

Background. The stem bark decoction of Stemonocoleus micranthus Harms (Fabaceae) is most widely used traditionally as a remedy for various diseases such as malaria and boil. In this study, the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities of the methanol-dichloromethane extract (MDE) from the stem bark of the plant in rodents were evaluated. Methods. The carrageenan-induced rat paw oedema, cotton pellet-induced granuloma in rat, and xylene-induced ear oedema in mice were used to study the anti-inflammatory activity of methanol-dichloromethane extract of Stemonocoleus micranthus (MDESm) (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg). The effects of MDESm (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) on cyclophosphamide-induced immunosuppression, neutrophil adhesion, carbon clearance, and haematological and biochemical parameters were carried out to study its immunomodulatory activity in mice. Result. MDESm (100 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly (p<0.05) inhibited carrageenan-induced oedema by 57.1% at 5th h posttreatment co...

Anti-inflammatory activity study involves developing a model that mimics, or provokes the production or release of, the biochemical mediators of inflammation, and monitoring the response of these biochemicals to the test drugs. This report constitutes an updated review of the in vitro and in vivo study models for assessing anti-inflammatory activity in plant extracts and synthetic drugs. The materials, instrumentation, and methods involved, as well as the mechanism of anti-inflammatory activity tested in each model, are extensively described. The merits and limitations of each method have also been discussed. A comparative assessment of the in vivo animal models vis-à-vis, the in vitro enzyme models have been made to assist scientists and researchers in the choice of assay method in terms of sensitivity, reliability, duration of test, ethical, and cost considerations.

Background The search for pharmacologically effective agents among molecules bearing multiple functionalities is commonly practiced. In continuation of the search for new anti-malarial agents, new pyrazole-hydrazine coupled Schiff-base derivatives previously synthesized were screened for anti-malarial property. Methods Here, in vivo prophylactic and curative activities of the compounds were assessed while their binding affinity for falcipain-2, a crucial enzyme in Plasmodium survival, was done using computational techniques. Results The two derivatives (BepINH and BepBeH) respectively led to a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in parasitaemia count (0.76 ± 1.11 and 0.79 ± 1.19) at day 3 post-treatment relative to the negative control (16.37 ± 1.25). For the prophylactic study, it was observed that the highest parasitaemia suppression level of 95.35% and 95.17% for BepINH and BepBeH at 15 mg/kg was slightly comparable to that obtained for ACT-Lonart (99.38%). In addition, their hae...