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The antimalarial potential of the ethanolic extract of Clerodendrum violaceum leaves (13 mg/kg body weight) was investigated in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. Haematological indices including the red blood cell indices, the white blood cell indices and platelet count were also evaluated on days 3, 8 and 14 after infection. Phytochemical screening revealed a predominance of alkaloids (3.68 %), and phenolics (2.78 %) in the extract. The extract suppressed parasitaemia following administration to infected mice by 92.3% on day 14 post-infection. The infected extracttreated animals had significantly higher (P<0.05) red blood cell count (RBC), packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), white blood cell count (WBC), and platelet count than the infected untreated animals. The results suggest that the extract possesses considerable antimalarial activity and may induce synthesis of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. These results support further studies on Clerodendrum violaceum leaf as a source of antimalarial remedy.

Bacteriophages (simply referred to as Phages) are a class of viruses with the ability to infect and kill prokaryotic cells (bacteria), but are unable to infect mammalian cells. This unique ability to achieve specific infectiousness by bacteriophages has been harnessed in antibacterial treatments dating back almost a decade before the antibiotic era began. Bacteriophages were used as therapeutic agents in treatment of dysentery caused by Shigella dysenteriae as far back as 1919 and in the experimental treatment of a wide variety of other bacterial infections caused by Vibrio cholerae , Staphylococcus sp. , Pseudomonas sp. etc, with varying degrees of success. Phage therapy and its many prospects soon fell out of favour in western medicine after the Second World War, with the discovery of penicillin. The Soviet Union and other countries in Eastern Europe however mastered the craft of bacteriophage isolation, purification and cocktail preparation, with phage-based therapeutics becoming widely available over-the-counter. With the recent rise in cases of multi-drug resistant bacterial infections, the clamour for a return to phage therapy, as a potential solution to the anti-microbial resistance (AMR) crisis has grown louder. This review provides an extensive exposé on phage therapy, addressing its historical use, evidences of its safety and efficacy, its pros and cons when compared with antibiotics, cases of compassionate use for treating life-threatening antibiotic-resistant infections, the limitations to its acceptance and how these may be circumvented.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) still remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In Nigeria, there is little information on antioxidant status of TB patients. In this study, effects of oxidative stress markers and vitamins C and E were investigated in pulmonary TB patients attending a health care facility in Nigeria. Methods: Sputum specimens were processed for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) while rifampicin resistance was determined by GeneXpert/Rif assay. Patients were screened for HIV after adequate counselling. Assays for hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2), malondialdehyde (MDA), protein carbonyl (PC), myeloperoxidase (MPx), xanthine oxidase (XO), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), α-tocopherol and ascorbic acid were estimated using standard methods. Results: Of the 83 recruited subjects, 29 (34.9%) were AFB negative, 30 (36.1%) were AFB positive while 24 (29.0%) were positive for rifampicin resistance. Overall, HIV prevalence was 6.0% while higher rate of 16.7% was found among the rifampicin resistant subjects. Plasma concentrations of H2O2, MDA and PC and also MPx and XO activities were significantly higher among rifampicin resistant subjects compared with AFB positive and AFB negative groups (P < 0.05). Plasma concentration of GSH and the activities of SOD, GST and GPX were significantly reduced in rifampicin resistant subjects compared with the 2 other groups (P < 0.05). The plasma activity of CAT was similar between rifampicin resistant and AFB positive subjects but significantly lower when compared with AFB negative group. Rifampicin resistant subjects had significantly lower concentrations of α-tocopherol and ascorbic acid compared with 2 other groups (P < 0.05). Conclusion: This study revealed that resistance of TB patients to rifampicin may be due to induction of oxidative stress. Administration of vitamins C and E may be beneficial by reducing the severity of the disease.

Aim of the study: The ethanolic stem bark extract of Harungana madagascariensis (Hypericaceae), (Choisy) Poir were evaluated for their activities on Trichomonas gallinae (Rivolta) Stabler isolated from the pigeon (Columba livia). It was also tested for their antimalarial activity on N67 Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis (in vivo) in mice and on Plasmodium falciparum isolates in vitro. Materials and methods: The anti-trichomonal screening was performed in vitro usingTrichomonas gallinae culture. The minimum lethal concentration (MLC) is the lowest concentration of the test extract in which no motile organisms were observed. The antimalarial effects were determined in-vivo for suppressive, curative and prophylactic activities in mice receiving a standard inoculum size of 1×10 7 (0.2 ml) infected erythrocytes of Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis intraperitoneally, and the in vitro was performed against 3 isolates of Plasmodium falciparum in a candle jar procedures. Results: The IC 50 of the extract and metronidazole (MDZ) (Flagyl) on Trichomonas gallinae at 48 h are 187 and 1.56 µg/ml. The IC 50 of the extract, chloroquine (CQ) and artemether (ART) on Plasmodium falciparum are between 0.052 and 0.517µg/ml for the extract and 0.021 and 0.0412 µg/ml for ART and CQ, respectively. The actions of the extract in in vivo study on Plasmodium yoelii nigeriensis showed that in both suppressive and prophylactic tests the percentages chemo-suppressive were between 28.6-44.8% and 30.2-78.2% respectively, while only 80 mg/kg of the extract reduced the parasitaemia level when compared to the control and the standard drugs in curative test. Conclusions: Harungana madagascariensis stem bark extract therefore exhibited significant anti-protozoan effects against Trichomonas and Plasmodium both in vivo and in vitro.