In vitro and in vivo anti-trypanosomal effects as well as reagent-based chemical screening of the aqueous and methanolic extracts of the roots, leaves and stem bark of Terminalia avicennioides were undertaken. In vitro, cessation or drop in the parasite motility, compared to the control, was taken as a measure of the anti-trypanasomal efficacy of the extracts following incubation of the parasite, Trypanosoma brucei brucei, with different extract concentrations (0, 5, 10 and 20 mg/ml) in 96-well micro titre plate. In vivo, groups of infected white albino rats were treated with 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg and the effect of treatment on parasitemia, packed cell volume (PCV) and lifespan were monitored. The root and stem bark extracts completely immobilized trypanosomes within 30 minutes of incubation at 20 mg/ml concentration, with the aqueous root extract displaying the highest activity, and the methanol extract of the leaf, the least. This effect compared favorably with that of the standard drug, diminazine aceturate. In vivo, significant (P<0.05) suppression of parasitemia, alleviation of anemia and prolongation of lifespan occurred in a dose dependent fashion with both the crude extracts and the bioassay-guided fractions. Reagent-based chemical analyses of the crude extracts showed presence of anthraquinones, tannins, saponins, flavonoids and cardiac glycosides, but the ethylacetate: methanol fraction which was most active revealed strong presence of saponins. These results suggest that the use of Terminalia avicennioides for management of trypanosomiasis in traditional medicine has scientific basis, and thus warrants further detailed evaluation.

Methanol extracts from twenty three plants harvested from the Savannah vegetation belt of Nigeria were analyzed in vitro for trypanocidal activity against Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Trypanosoma congolense at concentrations of 4 mg/ml, 0.4 mg/ml and 0.04 mg/ml. Extracts of Khaya senegalensis, Piliostigma reticulatum, Securidaca longepedunculata and Terminalia avicennoides were strongly trypanocidal to both organisms while extracts of Anchomanes difformis, Cassytha spp, Lannea kerstingii, Parkia clappertioniana, Striga spp, Adansonia digitata and Prosopis africana were trypanocidal to either T. brucei brucei or T. congolense. These findings provide evidence of the effects of some plants in the traditional management of trypanosomiasis.

In December 2019, cases of unknown pneumonia-like disease connected to food markets were reported in China. The causative agent was identified as a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the disease which spread all over the world, was named COVID-19. This pandemic has negatively affected quality of life and economy worldwide, thus motivating thoughtful search for treatment and prevention strategies. Efforts have been made in drug repositioning and vaccine development as well as development of monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies provide a long-lasting protective immunity against the pathogens, and have been at the forefront line in the therapy of some viral diseases. This study aimed to review the advances in SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) development. Most of the developed SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies including; B38, CR3022, 47D11, and H4, have targeted the spike protein of the virus to prevent its interaction with the host cell ACE-2 receptor. However, others such as Tocilizumab prevent the inflammation caused by the cytokine storm.

Objective The present study investigated the anti-Trypanosoma brucei brucei activity of methanolic extract of Senna occidentalis roots, leaves, stem bark, and seed in vitro and bioactive components of the most active plant part. Materials and methods Trypanosoma brucei brucei was identified by PCR, cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) and incubated at 37 °C and 5% CO2. Subsequently, the cultured T. brucei brucei were incubated with 500 μg/ml concentration of different parts of S. occidentalis plant and the most potent fraction was identified and subjected to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Results Amplicons of the rRNA gene of T. brucei brucei detected had a size of 1200 bp. The anti-trypanosomal activities indicated that the root extract of the plant was the most active at 500 μg/ml with inhibitory activity of 88.89% and fractions (2 and 5) the most active with IC50 values of 1.49 and 1.16 μg/ml respectively. Conclusion Results from this study insinuates that phenolic and simple aliphatic compounds might play key role in the anti-trypanosomal activity of S. occidentalis roots.

Keratinophilic fungi are the prime cause of various mycotic infections among children. Murtala Amusement Park is one of the preferred recreation grounds in Minna. The aim of this research was to investigate the occurrence of fungal species at Murtala Amusement Park, Minna, with the goal of identifying keratinophilic species among them. A total of 360 soil samples from six different important sites in the Park were collected during dry and rainy seasons. A total of 542 isolates from eleven genera were identified; Aspergillus, Candida, Fusarium, Paecilomyces, Mucor, Chrysosporium, Alternaria, Penicillium, Trichoderma, Microsporum, and Rhizopus.  A total of 142 and 399 fungal isolates were isolated during dry and rainy seasons respectively. Out of the soil physicochemical parameters analyzed, only Ca and Mg showed significant correlation with a number of the fungal colony at 1 % and 5 % levels of significance respectively and it occurred during dry season. There was no association between the numbers of fungal isolates recorded across the two seasons. Maximum percentage of contribution was observed with Aspergillus niger in both seasons. While the minimum percentage of contribution was observed with Microsporum gypseum (1.40 %) and Paecilomyces variottii (2.51 %) during the rainy and dry seasons respectively. Simpson’s dominance of fungal species showed 10.86 and 9.84 for dry and rainy season respectively. Evenness of fungal species at dry and rainy seasons were 0.0759 and 0.0247 respectively. Diversity index of fungal species were 2.531 and 0.908 for Shannon’s Index and Simpson’s Index respectively. A very high incidence of keratinophilic fungi demonstrated in the soil of Murtala Amusement Park is a noteworthy finding for public health significance.