The cost, side effects and imitation associated with conventional drugs have driven a substantial number of global citizens to resort to complementary medicine. Although largely informal and unregulated, the practice of herbal medicine is more engrained in low and middle income than in industrialized countries. Sesbania sesban, a plant which grows generously across most parts of the world, has been a major target by most traditional health practitioners. The effects so far reported include antimicrobial, anti-fertility, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory among others. No study has reviewed the scholarly works published and jointly reported results. Authros systematically reviewed papers available in different databases to give a hybrid report on the pharmacological effects of Sesbania sesban. A total of three data bases were searched using key terms like: Sesbania sesban, ethno-botany, phytochemical analysis, pharmacological effects etc. A total of 860 papers were initially recovered and further subjected to abstract and title examination which filtered them down to 40 papers. The 40 papers were assessed more against a set of criteria like: in-vivo and in-vitro studies biased to pharmacological effects of the plant, studies that were less than 15 years old and studies that used experimental design. This further scrutiny reduced the number of papers to 25. Most studies reported Sesbania sesban as having great anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic qualities. No study reported any adverse effect of the plant. Authors recommend a dose-effect assessment and mechanism of action of the plant extracts especially with regard to the antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and anti-fertility qualities.

Malaria is a deadly infectious parasitic disease that causes devastating morbidity and mortality globally. Despite being a public health concern, an effective vaccine for prevention of the disease remains elusive. Global efforts are exploring possible ways of developing and improving vaccines to counteract the complex nature in which Plasmodium falciparum evades the immune system. A number of vaccines have been developed in the past targeting the various parasitic life cycle stages. Transmission blocker vaccines, such as PpPf S25, target the parasite stages in the mosquito vector. However, these herd vaccines only protect the immunized population. Vaccines targeting blood-stage forms, such as the AMA-1 and MSP-1 vaccines, are challenged by the complex metabolic pathways of erythrocytes and merozoites. Vaccines targeting the pre-erythrocytic sporozoite stage remain the most promising approach thus far. Here, we systematically review the literature on pre-erythrocytic stage vaccines and on-going work in the field. Furthermore, we highlight gaps in current knowledge and point to potential areas of future work. Articles on pre-erythrocytic malaria vaccines were obtained from Google scholar, PubMed and Cochrane starting from the year 2010. Ten papers were reviewed. A number of vaccines were reviewed highlighting; the vaccine type, clinical phase of trial, population demographics, vaccine immunogenicity, efficacy and safety. The RTS,S vaccine is reportedly the most advanced, having been rolled out for phase III clinical trials in a number of malaria-endemic African countries. The pre-erythrocytic vaccines discussed have made milestones in clinical trials. Some of the challenges elicited may be addressed via screening for novel antigens, exploring suitable vaccine administration vehicles,­ as well as using a combined multi-stage vaccine approach.

Breast and cervical cancers have commandingly become major public health threats across the world. While studies have reported on the nexus between the use of oral contraceptives (OCs) and intrauterine devices (IUDs) as risk factors for breast and cervical cancers, there exists a paucity of explicit data on the nature of the association. Authors report the effect of oral contraceptives and the use of IUDs on the development of breast and cervical cancers. Several databases (Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and PubMed) were searched using well-specified criteria and a total of 15 papers selected. Meta-analyses, systematic reviews and studies that used cross-sectional designs were excluded from the review. Three and twelve cohort and case-control studies were reviewed respectively. Four of these studies reported an increased association between oral contraceptives and the risk of cervical cancer while nine showed positive correlation between oral contraceptives and risk of breast cancer. One study showed association between levonogestrel IUDs and risk of breast cancer while the other study did not show association between both levonogestrel and copper IUDs with risk of breast cancer. Use of copper IUDs was associated with diminishing risk of cervical cancer. Overall, use of oral contraceptives upsurges risk of breast and cervical cancers especially when used for longer periods of time. Further studies should therefore be done to understand the mechanisms of action of oral contraceptives and IUDs on the development of both cancers.

Pneumococcal diseases (PD) constitute a major threat to the global public health stability especially in the developing world. The risk is greater for children under 5 years, the elderly and persons living with compromised immune systems. Antibiotic agents, conjugate as well as polysaccharide vaccines have been available for several decades and have saved many lives. However, the burden of PD has consistently remained high resulting in poor quality of life and strained economic tenets. Constant resistance to available antibiotic agents and low access to vaccines constitute major setbacks to efforts meant to scale down the burden of PD. The need to explore more viable and promising options is not only urgent but also untenable. We profiled the pharmacological credentials of Moringa oleifera extracts as a possible efficacious alternative to conventional prophylactic and therapeutic interventions.  Methanol and ethanol extracts of air-dried leaves of Moringa oleifera plant were subjected to phytochemical screening to identify the presence of carbohydrates, proteins, saponins, alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, phyto-sterols, oils, and fats. A working solution of the two extracts was prepared by dissolving 20 mg & 40 mg of the extracts in 1ml of 99.9% dimethyl sulfoxide solvent. Sterilized 6 mm blank discs were loaded with 20ul of the final extract concentrations and incubated at 45 ºC for 20 hours. Dimethyl sulfoxide (100% DMSO) impregnated discs and 30 mcg ceftriaxone antibiotics were used as negative and positive controls respectively. Colon morphology on gentamicin blood agar (GBA) and blood agar (BA), gram staining and optochin assay were leveraged to identify Streptococcus pneumoniae. Disk diffusion method on Muller Hinton agar was used to evaluate sensitivity of Streptococcus pneumoniae to the subject extracts. Methanol and ethanol extracts were found to contain carbohydrates, proteins, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, steroids, fixed oils, alkaloids, and cardiac glycosides. Both extracts were found to contain flavonoids, tannins, and phenolic compounds. Ethanol & methanol extracts had lower anti-bacterial activity as compared to the 30 mcg positive control. Further exploration to reveal the anti-bacterial activity of aqueous based extracts on Streptococcus pneumoniae is strongly recommended