Several risk factors including hypertension are common complications of pregnancy with preeclampsia particularly associated with substantial risk to both the mother and fetus. This cross-sectional study involving quantitative approach was conducted in Same District Hospital in Tanzania. Data were collected from all pregnant women in the hospital using questionnaires. Respondents' knowledge on maternal mortality regarding preeclampsia included those who had no knowledge 60(60%), and those who had knowledge 40(40%). Most of the respondents had no knowledge of maternal mortality due to the complications of preeclampsia. The study revealed that 64(64%), had positive attitude towards maternal mortality due to preeclampsia prevention while 36(36%) had no response. About 68(68%) of the respondents could not access the health facilities saying that these health facilities were not affordable citing that the distance was too long. They reported no health facilities and services as well as insecurity while looking for health facilities/services and finally that there were few health workers in the health facilities meaning that patients could not be attended to on time. Furthermore, health workers harassed the patients and make them seek other alternatives when they are sick, while minority 32(32%) said that the health facilities were accessible, affordable and efficient. Medical history during prenatal care showed that 25% of the respondent had increased blood pressure more than 140/90 mmHg, but only 10% had breath issues. Laboratory diagnosis of the respondents revealed increased proteinuria (48%) and impaired liver function (7%). Respondents experienced 39% convulsion and 24% pulmonary edema. Overall, the study identified a few predisposing factors to preeclampsia/eclampsia among pregnant women. Also, most of the respondents were said to have no knowledge of eclampsia thereby increasing maternal mortality.

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Abstract:The hypolipidaemic effect of ethanol leaf extract of Moringa oleifera in experimentally induced hypercholesterolemic rats was investigated. Thirty six (36) wistar rats of both sexes weighing 130.53±4.86 were used for the study. The animals were completely randomized into six groups (A-F) comprising 6 animals each. Groups A, B and C comprise female rats administered 1 ml of distilled water, high dose of 600 mg/kg and low dose of 300 mg/kg body weight of the extract respectively. Groups D, E and F comprise male rats administered 1 ml of distilled water, high dose of 600 mg/kg and low dose of 300 mg/kg body weight of the extract respectively. Hypercholesterolemia was induced by feeding the animals with high fat diet for 21 days before administration of the extract. After the 21 days of feeding, administration of extract lasted for 14 days. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed that the ethanol leaf extract of M. oleifera contains alkaloids, tannins, carbohydrates and cardiac glycosides. Only the high dose female group (600 mg/kg body weight) lost or maintained their body weight significantly (p<0.05), the rest did not. Body weight was not significantly (p>0.05) altered in the male group administered low dose and high dose, showing that the dose of the extract slightly affected their weight. For serum lipids, serum total cholesterol concentration in both male and female reduced significantly (p<0.05), both in those given low and high doses of the extract. Serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) level significantly (p<0.05) increased both in male and female rats that were administered high dose of 600 mg/kg body weight of the extract, but was not significantly (p>0.05) affected in other groups. Serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) level also reduced significantly (p<0.05) in both male and female rats that were administered high dose of the extract, but was not significantly (p>0.05) altered for those that received low doses (300 mg/kg body weight) of the extract. There was no significant (p>0.05) reduction in the LDLC of the male rats. Serum triacylglycerol (TAG) concentration in male and female rats reduced significantly (p<0.05), in those that received low and high doses of the extract. Overall, findings from the present study suggest that the ethanol leaf extract of M. oleifera has hypolipidaemic effect. Therefore, the leafy vegetable may be recommended to patients that have problems with high serum lipid profiles and also for people that want to lose or maintain body weight.

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The purpose of this study is to evaluate the capacity of lycopene against diabetes-induced oxidative damage in Wistar rats. Thirty Wistar rats of both sexes, twenty-five of which were diabetic, were used. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) 60 mg/kg body weight and it was confirmed by the elevated blood glucose ≥200 mg/dl after three days. The rats were divided randomly into groups 1 to 6, each containing 5 rats. Group 1 (Normal control) and Group 2 (Diabetic control) rats were administered 0.5 ml of olive oil; Groups 3, 4, and 5 rats were respectively administered 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg body weight of lycopene, while Group 6 rats were administered 2 mg/kg body weight of Glibenclamide. All administrations were done orally and once daily for twentyeight days. At the end of the treatment, serum levels of antioxidant enzymes, cortisol and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined. Administration of graded doses of lycopene to diabetic animals significantly (P<0.05) decreased the blood glucose concentration after four weeks of treatment when compared to diabetic untreated animals. Serum levels of cortisol and MDA (index of oxidative stress) were reduced while there were up-regulated activities of serum endogenous enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase) in diabetic animals treated with all doses of lycopene when compared with diabetic untreated animals. Overall, lycopene attenuated the biomedical alterations in STZ-induced diabetic Wistar rats. Lycopene therefore possesses antioxidant activity at the doses tested in this study.