Background The problem of drug resistance and toxicity in trypanosomiasis is ever-increasing, thereby creating a need to search for efficacious and safer alternatives that are of plant origin. We designed the present study to assess the oral acute toxicity, and anti-trypanosomal activity of Brillantaisia owariensis in mice. Methods Fifty-eight BALB/c mice were used for this study. For toxicity assessment, eighteen mice were divided into two groups of nine mice each, and acute single oral administration of the aqueous and methanol whole plant extracts of B. owariensis was assessed for each group as per Lorke’s method. Mice were observed for signs of toxicity of liver and kidney organs after two weeks of oral administration. For the anti-trypanosomal activity, forty mice were divided into eight groups of five mice. Mouse in each group was inoculated with 0.1 mL containing106T. brucei /mL. Following patency of 3 days, mice were treated at different dosages of methanol and aqueous extracts. Pre-infection, post-infection, and post-treatment data for rectal temperature, body weight, parasiteamia level, packed cell volume, and daily survival were monitored. Results The acute oral toxicity studies (LD50) for methanol and aqueous plant extracts in this study were calculated as 3535 mg/kg/body weight, and are non-toxic. No obvious histopathologic observation in the liver and kidney tissues. The mean daily rectal temperature and mean weights of all the treated mice were restored to normal values and significant (P, 0.05) in comparison to the positive control. Parasitaemia clearance by both extracts was suppressive. The mean PCV values were significantly increased following treatment, and there was prolonged survival especially in mice treated with methanol extracts. Conclusion The study concludes that the extracts of B. owariensis are relatively non-toxic with a good safety margin when administered to mice orally. Crude methanol extract exhibited better suppressive and haematinic antitrypanosomal activities than the aqueous extract, and it has a promising effect by its ability to reduce anaemia in mice challenged with T. brucei brucei, and prolonged survival.

Brillantaisia owariensis (Acanthaceae) is evident in its traditional use in the forest region of West Africa for the treatment of several ailments, including trypanosomiasis. Despite its widespread use, the plant has not been subjected to pharmacological investigations to ascertain its phytochemical profile and efficacy in folklore medicine. This study was designed to determine the phytochemical and GC-MS profile of the whole plant of B. owariensis and elucidate its pharmacological implications in managing trypanosomiasis. The plant was collected from Nigeria's South-western Forest vegetation zone. Thirty grams of the processed powder was extracted using the Soxhlet method using methanol as solvent. The phytochemical and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy analyses of the methanol extract were done. Thirty BALB/c mice were randomly allocated into six groups of five mice to test for anti-inflammatory activity. Each mouse in groups 2–6 was infected with 0.1 mL of 106 T. brucei /mL, while group 1 served as neutral non-infected control. Following the establishment of parasitaemia by three days post-infection, mice were either non-treated, treated with standard drug or treated at varying dosages of methanol extracts and sacrificed by day 9 for histopathologic evaluation. High levels of Phyto-constituents were detected, and the GC-MS profiling revealed the presence of twenty-four bioactive compounds. The extracts of B. owariensis showed ameliorative and anti-inflammatory activities on the histology of the vital organs and tissues at varying dosages. The methanol extract of B. owariensis is rich in bioactive components with promising potential in managing inflammatory diseases such as African trypanosomosis.

Brillantaisia owariensis (Acanthaceae) is evident in its traditional use in the forest region of West Africa for the treatment of several ailments, including trypanosomiasis. Despite its widespread use, the plant has not been subjected to pharmacological investigations to ascertain its phytochemical profile and efficacy in folklore medicine. This study was designed to determine the phytochemical and GC-MS profile of the whole plant of B. owariensis and elucidate its pharmacological implications in managing trypanosomiasis. The plant was collected from Nigeria's South-western Forest vegetation zone. Thirty grams of the processed powder was extracted using the Soxhlet method using methanol as solvent. The phytochemical and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy analyses of the methanol extract were done. Thirty BALB/c mice were randomly allocated into six groups of five mice to test for anti-inflammatory activity. Each mouse in groups 2–6 were infected with 0.1 mL of 106 T. brucei /mL, while group 1 served as neutral non-infected control. Following the establishment of parasitaemia by 3 days post-infection, mice were either non-treated, treated with standard drug or treated at varying dosages of methanol extracts and sacrificed by day 9 for histopathologic evaluation. High levels of Phyto-constituents were detected, and the GC-MS profiling revealed the presence of twenty-four bioactive compounds. The extracts of B. owariensis revealed ameliorative and anti-inflammatory activities on the histology of the vital organs and tissues at varying dosages. The methanol extract of B. owariensis is rich in bioactive components with promising potential in managing inflammatory diseases such as African trypanosomosis.

Environmental conditions and anthropogenic activities at various temporal and spatial scales tend to shape the patterns of biodiversity. The family Drosophilidae serves as good bio indicator model in understanding ecological indices and species diversity interactions. The potential of Drosophila to serve as an environmental indicator lies on the cosmopolitan nature of this group and the sensitivity of the flies to environmental variables. This study analyzed the biodiversity of human-commensal Drosophila inhabiting vegetable markets located within the salt water mangrove (SWM), fresh water mangrove (FWM), rain forest (RF) and Southern Guinea Savanna (SGS) vegetation regions of Nigeria. Collections were made from sixteen (l6) vegetable markets using fermented banana as bait. A total of 1,077 fruit flies, composed of four different species of Drosophila belonging to the subgenera Sophophora, Zaprionus and an unidentified species were collected. Drosophila melanogaster of the subgenus Sophophora was predominant (82.5%) in all the sampled vegetation zones while the unidentified fruit fly species was the least (0.7%). The Simpson Diversity Index was lowest (0.13) for Southern Guinea Savanna indicating a higher diversity of fruit flies in the zone. The ecological index of temperature was significantly negatively correlated (-0.965) with Drosophila species diversity while human population was significantly positively correlated (0.832) with biodiversity. The results suggest D. melanogaster as the predominant human-commensal species irrespective of environmental factors and significant impacts of temperature and human population on the biodiversity of human-commensal Drosophila in Nigeria.

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