Contributions of malaria, helminths, HIV and iron deficiency to anaemia in pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic in SouthWest Nigeria

BACKGROUND

Iron deficiency is a dominant source of anaemia in many settings. To evaluate the key cause of anaemia in the study area, the prevalence of anaemia due to major public health diseases was compared with anaemia due to iron deficiency.

METHODS

Pregnant women were recruited from ante-natal (n=490) and HIV clinics (n=217) with their personal data documented using a questionnaire. Microscopy of Giemsa-stained thick smears was used for detection of malaria parasites while helminths in stools were detected using direct smear method. Haematocrit values were determined by capillary method. Serum ferritin levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22.0.

RESULTS

The mean age of the recruited women was 28.6±5.4 years old. There were 68.1% cases of anaemia of which 35.5% was due to infections only predominantly HIV and malaria, 14.9% from unknown sources while anaemia due to iron deficiency only was 7.1%.

CONCLUSION

It can safely be inferred that malaria and HIV predispose to anaemia than iron deficiency in the study area. Although pregnant women are dewormed and given IPTp for helminths and malaria treatment respectively, there should be complementary routine malaria screening at ANC visits for those with HCT values <33% and those infected with HIV.

Induction of Neuroinflammation and Neurotoxicity by Synthetic Hemozoin

Hemozoin produced by Plasmodium falciparum during malaria infection has been linked to the neurological dysfunction in cerebral malaria. In this study, we determined whether a synthetic form of hemozoin (sHZ) produces neuroinflammation and neurotoxicity in cellular models. Incubation of BV-2 microglia with sHZ (200 and 400 µg/ml) induced significant elevation in the levels of TNFα, IL-6, IL-1β, NO/iNOS, phospho-p65, accompanied by an increase in DNA binding of NF-κB. Treatment of BV-2 microglia with sHZ increased protein levels of NLRP3 with accompanying increase in caspase-1 activity. In the presence of NF-κB inhibitor BAY11-7082 (10 µM), there was attenuation of sHZ-induced release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, NO/iNOS. In addition, increase in caspase-1/NLRP3 inflammasome activation was blocked by BAY11-7082. Pre-treatment with BAY11-7082 also reduced both phosphorylation and DNA binding of the p65 sub-unit. The NLRP3 inhibitor CRID3 (100 µM) did not prevent sHZ-induced release of TNFα and IL-6. However, production of IL-1β, NO/iNOS as well as caspase-1/NLRP3 activity was significantly reduced in the presence of CRID3. Incubation of differentiated neural progenitor (ReNcell VM) cells with sHZ resulted in a reduction in cell viability, accompanied by significant generation of cellular ROS and increased activity of caspase-6, while sHZ-induced neurotoxicity was prevented by N-acetylcysteine and Z-VEID-FMK. Taken together, this study shows that the synthetic form of hemozoin induces neuroinflammation through the activation of NF-κB and NLRP3 inflammasome. It is also proposed that sHZ induces ROS- and caspase-6-mediated neurotoxicity. These results have thrown more light on the actions of malarial hemozoin in the neurobiology of cerebral malaria.

Potential antimalarial activity of Methyl Jasmonate and its effect on lipid profiles in Plasmodium Berghei infected mice

BACKGROUND

The antimalarial activity and lipid profiles of Methyl Jasmonate (MJ) were investigated against established malaria infection in vivo using BALB/c mice.

METHODS

Arteether (AE) and chloroquine (CQ) were used as reference drugs while ethanol was used as the vehicle for drug delivery for MJ.

RESULTS

Mice treated with 10 and 25 mg/kg MJ showed a remarkable reduction in percentage parasitemia by 68.3% and 78.2% on day 10(post treatment) respectively while 45.4% and 87.2% reduction in percentage parasitemia were observed in the group treated with 50 mg/kg on day 3 and 10 (post treatment) respectively. The highest mean survival time was observed in CQ followed by AE and MJ in dose-dependent manner. A progressive decrease in packed cell volume (PCV) was observed in infected untreated mice which led to the death of all the mice by day 9 (post treatment). Infected mice treated with MJ showed reduced level of HDL and LDL compared with infected untreated group. As the dose of MJ increased in infected mice cholesterol levels increased while there was reduction in triglyceride.

CONCLUSION

Overall there was marked decrease in parasitemia in Plasmodium berghei infected mice treated with graded doses of MJ but appears to have reduced antimalarial activity compared with CQ and AE.

Evaluation of the performances of two rapid diagnostic tests (Cyscope®mini and Paracheck-Pf®) in the diagnosis of malaria among febrile children in southwest Nigeria

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to test the diagnostic performances of Cyscope®mini and Paracheck-Pf® for Plasmodium falciparum relative to microscopy.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

209 children aged 6 months to 12 years presenting with symptoms suggestive of malaria were enrolled at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, within a period of 6 months. Malaria parasites were identified in capillary blood samples using Cyscope®mini (parasite DNA-based fluorescence microscope) and Paracheck-Pf® (an HRP-II-based test) with microscopy of Giemsa-stained thick blood films as reference gold standard. The overall performances were calculated using OpenEpi version 2.3 statistical package. 209 samples were performed for Cyscope®mini and light microscopy while 140 samples were done by Paracheck-Pf®.

RESULTS

The prevalence of malaria parasitaemia by light microscopy was 22.0% (46/209), while those of Cyscope®mini and Paracheck-Pf® were 85.2% (178/209) and 32.1% (45/140), respectively. Parasite density ranged from 40 to 203,883/µl. Cyscope®mini and Paracheck-Pf® had sensitivities of 91.3 and 86.21%, respectively. The respective specificities were 16.56 and 81.98% for Cyscope®mini and Paracheck-Pf® with diagnostic accuracies of 33.01 and 82.86%. The diagnostic performances of the two rapid diagnostic tests were significantly different.

CONCLUSION

Paracheck-Pf® performed better than Cyscope®mini for diagnosis of falciparum malaria and will be a good diagnostic tool for field studies.

The protective effects of methyl jasmonate against adriamycin--induced hepatic and renal toxicities

The aim of the study was to investigate the protective effect of methyl jasmonate (MJ) in adriamycin (ADR) induced hepatic and renal toxicities. 36 BALB/c mice were randomly divided into control, ADR (20 mg/kg), MJ (50 mg/kg) only, MJ (100 mg/kg) only, MJ (50 mg/ kg) + ADR, MJ (100 mg/kg) + ADR groups (n = 6). The 2 doses of MJ was administered for 7 days in MJ only groups, ADR was administered intraperitoneally on the 8th day after pretreatment with the 2 different doses of MJ while ADR was administered on the 8th day only for the ADR only group. The malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), H2O2 generation, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), urea and creatinine in the liver, kidneys and serum samples as applicable were estimated. Tissue MDA, H2O2 generation, and GST activity were markedly elevated while GSH content, CAT and SOD activities were significantly reduced in the tissues when compared to the control (p < 0.05). Pretreatment with MJ ameliorated ADR toxicities, with a significant reduction in serum urea concentration, ALT activity, MDA level, H2O2 generation, GST activity and a significant elevation in GSH content, CAT and SOD activities in the organ tissues. MJ induced significant reduction in MDA level and increase of GSH content in liver and kidney tissues. This study suggests that MJ may play an overall protective effect on ADR-induced toxicities in liver and kidneys and the inhibition of tissue peroxidative damage might contribute to this beneficial effect.