The nutritional qualities of wild and cultured Clarias gariepinus from Oba Reservoir, Ikose, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria, and the cultured fish from the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Oyo State Ministry of Agriculture and Mineral Resources, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria, were evaluated. The proximate composition, mineral element composition and essential amino acids profile of the sampled fish species were evaluated using standard laboratory procedures. The results of the proximate composition was observed to be high in cultured population compared to the Wild and there was a statistical significant difference in the amount of crude protein, fibres, carbohydrate, fat/lipid, ash and moisture contents across the two sampled populations (Wild; 17.94 ± 0.19, Cultured; 21.06 ± 0.51), t = -5.738, p-value =0.001. Mineral element content showed maximum amount of copper (Cu), Lead (Pb), Manganese (Mn) and Iron (Fe) in Wild population than in their cultured counterpart while the amount of Cadmium (Cd) and Nickel (Ni) observed in Wild population were undetected. It was also discovered that all amino acid analysed were found to be higher in the cultured group compared to the wild. There were varied levels of significant correlations among all the measured amino acids contents across the two sampled populations. This study showed that the proximate composition, elemental contents and amino acids profiles of both the cultured and wild fishes varies significantly and the results proofed that the cultured fish sample were more nutritious than the wild population, therefore, good monitoring system of Oba Reservoir should be encouraged with strict vigilance.

For the past few decades, environmental pollution is considered a major global problem for public health and this problem has continued to impact aquatic environment. Pharmaceutical discharges are major sources of pollution that poses serious threat to aquatic animals like fish, therefore, this work aimed at evaluating the histological architecture of the gill tissues of Clarias gariepinus on exposed to sub-lethal concentrations of pharmaceutical effluents using standard laboratory procedure. The physicochemical characteristics of the pharmaceutical effluent used revealed varied level of deviations from World Health Organization standard for waste discharge into any categories of water bodies. The histological studies of the sectioned gills of the exposed fish showed varied level of histological alterations which are concentrations dependent. The observed histopathological lesions recorded include infiltration of secondary lamellae, inter-lamellae hyper plastic lesion, and oedema, congestion of the blood vessels, epithelial thickening and lifting, and necrosis of various degrees. All the fish held in the control stock showed inappreciable or no histological degradation and their staining patterns and cellular arrangement remained unaffected and this showed that even low concentration of such effluent is enough to induce physiological imbalances in aquatic organisms. The degrees of all these recorded anomalies were concentration dependent. Therefore, indiscriminate disposal of this effluent is detrimental to aquatic community and to combat this, strict compliance of the laws with total vigilance against illegal discharge of effluent should be enacted and enforced.

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Cardiovascular disease is the world's leading cause of death, killing 17 to 19 million people each year. The usage of traditional drugs was influenced by the need for effective medications for the treatment of cardiovascular disease without side effects. The current study investigated the cardio-protective effects of Adansonia digitata leaf extract on doxorubicin-mediated cardiotoxicity in laboratory rats. Thirty-five albino rats were divided into five groups, each consisting of seven rats. Group 1 was given filtered water as a control, while Group 2 was given saline and doxorubicin, Group 3 received doxorubicin and Vitamin E, and Groups IV and V were myocardial oxidative animals treated with Adansonia digitata leaf extract (150 and 300 mg/kg/wt) for two weeks. After the rats were sacrificed, their hearts were collected and homogenized for biochemical assays. The results on the activities of creatinine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate amino transferase (AST), nitric oxide synthase (NOS), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and malondialdehyde were determined. Histopathology examination was used in addition to assays to validate myocardial damage. In comparison to the control group, rats provided doxorubicin showed a significant increase in the activities of cardiac marker enzymes (CK, LDH, and AST), as well as a significant increase in malondialdehyde concentration with a concomitant decrease in antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT, and NOS), implying cardiotoxicity. In rats with doxorubicin-induced myocardial infection, pretreatment with Adansonia digitata leaf extract reduced myocardial damage, these biochemical results were confirmed by histopathology. Finally, the new study demonstrates that Adansonia digitata has cardioprotective properties.