Macroinvertebrate fauna of Ogbei stream in Anambra state, Nigeria was studied from monthly samples taken from six stations or sites with a benthic scoop net and a serrated cylindrical sampler (SCS) for 12 months (May, 2002-Apri 2003). A to al of 11420 macroinvertebrates were col ected belonging to 4 classes, 13 orders, 28 families and 50 species. The fauna was dominated numerically by Insecta (98.29 %), Arachnida (0.81%) and Oligochaeta (0.66%). Diptera was the most abundant taxon (42.62%), fo owed by Odonata (36.89%), Coleop era (9.76 %) and Hemiptera (8.22 %). Station 3 had the highest percentage of abundance of the macrofauna (28.56 %) followed by station 2 (19.54 %). The highest faunal diversi y was recorded in station 6 The macroinvertebrate composition, distribution abundance and diversity were influenced by substrate composition, good water quality and availability of food. l, t l ll t t .

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Recently, considerable attention has been focused on dietary supplements that possess hypoglycaemic and hypolipidemic properties in lieu of the synergistically synthesized drugs like statins and metiform which have been proven to have adverse effects. This present work was carried out to study the potential effects of Lipton tea aqueous extract (LTAE) on normal male albino rats. 36 six male Wistar rats weighing 115-150 g were assigned into four main groups; each group was divided into three subgroups, consisting of three replicates namely R1, R2 and R3 making a total of nine rats in each of the main groups. Group 1 served as the control and received only water, Group 2 received 200 mg/kg of LTAE, Group 3 received 400 mg/kg of the LTAE, while Group 4 received 800 mg/kg of LTAE. All treatment was given orally on daily basis for 28 consecutive days, but the parameters were assessed on weekly basis. The result revealed that, weight gain, fasting blood sugar and serum (total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-c and VLDL-c) significantly (p < 0.05) decrease in all the treated groups while HDL-c significantly (p < 0.05) increased when compared to the control group. The Lipton tea aqueous extract induced both a dose-dependent and a time-dependent effect in the parameters measured, apart from the total cholesterol which did not show a dose-dependent effect. This led to an overall decrease in the antherogenic index and coronary risk index, suggesting that LTAE possesses hypoglycaemic and hypoglycaemic activities in normal male rats.

<p>The increasing discovery of more medicinal plants have triggered increased scientific screening of their bioactivity in order to provide data that will help physicians and patients make wise decision before using them. This study was designed to elucidate comparative phytochemical and antioxidant properties of crude seed powder, aqueous and methanolic seed extracts of <em>Buchholzia coriacea.</em> The results showed that crude seed powder had the highest alkaloid and phenol content of 3.98 ± 0.00% and 0.92 ± 0.00%, while aqueous extract had the least alkaloid and phenol content of 1.00 ± 0.00% and 0.12 ± 0.00% respectively. Methanolic extracts had the highest phytochemical components among the three extracts with flavonoids (12.03 ± 0.0), saponins (1.99 ± 0.01), terpenoids (2.00 ± 0.00), tannin (0.10 ± 0.00) and phytate (2.02 ± 0.01) compositions, while aqueous extracts had the highest hydrogen cyanide (0.30 ± 0.00) and glycoside (0.35 ± 0.00). Antioxidant (DPPH) activities of <em>B. coriacea</em> showed that aqueous extract and crude seed powder had inhibition concentration (IC₅₀) of 4.65 mg/ml while methanolic extract had IC₅₀ of 5.85 mg/ml. The result of the LD₅₀ of the extracts showed the each extracts was well tolerated at a dose of 5000 mg/kg, an indication of high safety profile. The study therefore clearly demonstrated that methanolic extracts of <em>B. coriacea</em> have antioxidant, antihypertensive, hypocholesterolmic and anticarcinogenic properties owing to the presence of high levels of phytochemical components than the aqueous and crude seed powder. </p>