No abstract

Trypanosomosis is a debilitating disease affecting mainly livestock and humans in tropical Africa. Chemically synthesized drugs and medicinal plants have been used in the treatment and control of this disease. In this study, the in vitro effect of aqueous extracts and fraction IV extract of Ximenia americana stem bark on Trypanosoma congolense DNA was investigated. The extracts were incubated with the parasites in vitro at 300 mg/mL aqueous extract and 25 mg/mL fraction IV portion for 30, 60, and 120 mins. The DNA of the trypanosomes was isolated and digested using ECOR1 enzyme and subsequently PCR was carried out. Results showed that aqueous extract and fraction IV portion immobilized 55% and 90% of the trypanosomes after 30-minute incubation. Subsequent isolation of the parasite DNA and agarose gel electrophoresis did not reveal that cell death was as a result of DNA fragmentation. This suggests that cell death was by another mechanism of action.

The global effort of malaria control is in line with the one world one health concept, but then a globally defined (one-size-fits-all) malaria control strategy would be inefficient. A model was used to examine the likely impact of malaria parasite interventions for a steady state regional control program in endemic areas. Assumptions varied about two targeted epidemiologic control points on the basic reproductive number, Ro, which is affected by different factors and upon which the status of malaria in any community will depend. For any effective malaria control and eradication program, environmental and socio-economic factors should also be considered.

Animal trypanosomosis is a major constraint to livestock production and Agriculture in Africa especially Nigeria. The survey was conducted to assess the knowledge of farmers about trypanosomosis in Kachia and Saminaka Local Government Areas of Kaduna state, Nigeria. A total of two hundred questionnaires were randomly distributed to mainly animal health workers and livestock farmers to obtain relevant information. The study revealed that 32 (34.1%) and twenty four (34.3%) respondents from Kachia and Saminaka were mainly livestock farmers respectively, and 42 (44.7%) and 39 (55.7%) were between the ages of 21-40 years of age. Forty three respondents (45.8%) from Kachia and 15 (21.5%) Saminaka had knowledge of the disease and said the disease was as a result of bite by tsetsefly, with twenty eight (29.8%) Kachia and twenty nine (41.4%) Saminaka, they gave the clinical symptoms of the disease to include: -foul smell, weakness, progressive emaciation, low milk production and abortion. The respondents reported that infection of animals with the disease was associated with migration of the animals during the rainy season into the forested areas. Knowledge of management of the disease was reported by eighteen (19.1%) Kachia and fourteen 20.0%) Saminaka to include consulting of health professionals and the use of trypanocidal drugs. The survey showed that the livestock farmers did not suffer significant losses, Kachia twelve (2.8%) and Saminaka, eleven (2.0%) in their animal population as a result of the disease. The study showed that the livestock farmers had some knowledge on trypanosomosis and its management.

The current study investigates the effect of fraction IV portion of Ximenia americana stem bark on Trypanosoma congolense induced serum enzymes changes in rats. Following infection with trypanosomes, the rats were monitored for levels of some serum enzymes. The results revealed that there was significant (P<0.05) elevation of serum enzymes Aspartate AminoTransferase (AST), Alanine AminoTransferase (ALT), Alkaline Phosphatase (AP), Gamma GlutamylTransferase (GGT) and Creatine Kinase (CK) in the infected animals. Treatment with 25 mg/Kg body weight fraction IV portion of Ximenia americana led to significant (P<0.05) reduction in levels of the enzymes. It is concluded that treatment with fraction IV portion of Ximenia americana was able to modulate the effect of trypanosomosis induced serum enzyme levels of the infected rats.