Diabetes mellitus is one of the serious global health problems affecting a significant proportion of both developed and developing countries. Overproduction of free radicals and oxidative stress has been associated with the development of diabetic complications. In the present study, the antioxidant effects of metformin (MET), glibenclamide (GLI), and repaglinide (REP) were evaluated in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The findings from this study may possibly help in understanding the efficacy of these standard drugs in managing the complications arising from diabetes mellitus (DM). Alloxan (130 mg/kg BW) was administered as a single dose to induce diabetes. Four (4) groups of rats (n = 6) were used; group 1 served as diabetic control while groups 2, 3, and 4 were the diabetic test groups that received MET (25 mg/kg), GLI (2.5 mg/kg), and REP (0.5 mg/kg), respectively. The result of the study showed significant (p < 0.05) improvement in the altered antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT) and GSH concentration in diabetic treated rats compared with the diabetic control group. MET and REP produced significant effect on the MDA concentration while GLI showed insignificant reduction in the MDA concentration compared with the diabetic control. Findings from this study suggest that the administration of MET, GLI, and REP exerts significant antioxidant effects in alloxan-induced diabetic rats, thus contributing to the protective effect against oxidative stress-induced damage during diabetic complications.

Insulin therapy and oral antidiabetic agents/drugs used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus have not sufficiently proven to control hyperlipidemia, which is commonly associated with the diabetes mellitus. Again the hopes that traditional medicine and natural plants seem to trigger researchers in this area is yet to be discovered. This research was designed to compare the biochemical effects of some medicinal plants in alloxan-induced diabetic male Wistar rats using named plants that are best at lowering blood glucose and hyperlipidemia and ameliorating other complications of diabetes mellitus by methods of combined therapy. The results obtained showed 82% decrease in blood glucose concentration after the 10th hour to the fortieth hour. There was significant increase P < 0.05 in the superoxide dismutase activity of the test group administered 100 mg/kg of A. Occidentale. There was no significant difference P > 0.05 recorded in the glutathione peroxidase activity of E. globulus (100 mg/kg) when compared to the test groups of P. guajava (250 mg/kg) and X. aethiopica (250 mg/kg). Catalase activity showed significant increase P < 0.05 in the catalase activity, compared to test groups. While at P > 0.05, there was no significant difference seen between test group and treated groups. Meanwhile, degree of significance was observed in other parameters analysed. The biochemical analysis conducted in this study showed positive result, attesting to facts from previous works. Though these individual plants extracts exhibited significant increase in amelorating diabetes complication and blood glucose control compared to glibenclamide, a synthetic antidiabetic drug. Greater performance was observed in the synergy groups. Therefore, a poly/combined formulation of these plants extracts yielded significant result as well as resolving some other complications associated with diabetics.

Nanowires are structures that have a lateral size constraint to tens of nanometers or less and an unconstrained longitudinal size. The syntheses and characterization of ZnO nanowire with hexagonal structure was successfully achieved using chemical bath deposition technique. The nanowires obtained were further characterized by scan electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and spectrophotometer. The SEM micrographs revealed the morphology of ZnO nanowires with diameter 170.3 nm and 481 nm. This revealed that the pH 8.1 of the bath solution and the optimized value form ZnO nanowires with hexagonal shape at top surface. The XRD pattern of the samples revealed ZnO nanowire have hexagonal crystallite structure. Where upon the crystallite size supported increased annealing temperature (0.536 nm, 0.541 nm and 0.557 nm at 100°C, 150°C and 200°C respectively). The EDX analysis revealed the elemental compositions of samples and confirmed the presence of Zn and O2. The results of the optical analysis showed that ZnO nanowire have high absorbance in the ultraviolet and infrared regions with high transmittance in the visible region. The absorbance of the nanowire increases with increasing annealing temperature. Its high absorbance in the ultraviolet region suggest it applicability as solar harvester for trapping solar energy, used for photovoltaic panel with capacity to converting sunlight radiation directly to electricity for commercial or industrial purposes.

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This study was designed to determine the effect of acid and alkaline pretreatment of rice husk on the production of biosurfactant using Mucor indicus. Rice husk was pretreated at 120°C in a mineral nutrient medium at variable pH of 2, 7 and 12. The media were adjusted to pH7 after pretreatment to provide suitable environmental pH for microbial growth. Mucor indicus isolated from the rice husk dump site was used to inoculate the pretreated rice rusk media and the setup was allowed to stand for 28 days with intermittent shaking. At the expiration of 28 days, the broth was filtered and centrifuged to remove all suspended cells. The cell free broth was collected for the extraction of biosurfactant using a mixture of chloroform/methanol at ratio 2:1 (mixture/broth). The results revealed that the biosurfactants yield were 0.59±0.078, 0.40±0.042 and 0.78±0.050 g in 100 mL of broth for pH 2, 7 and 12 pretreated rice husk, respectively. The biosurfactants produced showed highest emulsification index for automotive gas oil and lowest for premium motor spirit. The results also suggested that the biosurfactants produced have glycolipids properties. Therefore, it will be correct to suggest that for the conversion of rice husk into useful material such as biosurfactant, the heat pretreatment should be carried out at an alkaline pH.