Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medical Research

Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of Citrus aurantiifolia against cadmium chloride toxicity induced in the liver and kidney of Albino Wistar rats histologically.

Methods: Twenty five adult female Albino rats weighing 150±11 to 200±50 g were used for the study. The rats were purchased from the Department of Pharmacology, College of Health Science, University Port Harcourt, Rivers State of Nigeria. They were randomly assigned into five groups (A B C D& E) with each group having five rats. Group A (Control) received only food and water for six weeks (6 weeks), Group B received food, cadmium water and treatment with lime juice for six weeks (6 weeks), Group C received food, water and lime juice for three weeks. After three weeks, they stopped lime and water and were induced with cadmium chloride for 3 weeks, Group D received food, cadmium chloride for 3 weeks and after 3 week they were given normal water and treated with lime for another 3 weeks, Group E received food and cadmium water for six weeks. At the end of the treatment, the liver and the kidney of each sacrificed rat were processed for paraffin sectioning and stained with Harris hematoxylin and eosin.

Results: Photomicrographs of Groups B and C which were induced with Cadmium Chloride and treated with citrus shows area of central necrosis and central vein congested with red blood cells and also the presence of inflammatory cells which are features of liver injury can be seen.

Conclusion: There was no significant protective effect of Citrus aurantiifolia against cadmium-induced liver injury in Albino Wistar rats. Also, there was no significant effect of cadmium-induced toxicity on the kidney of the Albino Wistar rat.

Background: The use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is on the rise globally. This study investigated the use of CAM among mothers for treating acute illnesses in their children. It provides information on the prevalence and types of CAM and reasons for their use.

Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted with the use of interviewer administered questionnaires using multi-stage sampling technique to elicit information on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of CAM and the patterns of its use. All consenting mothers were used for the study.

Results: A total of 415 women were interviewed; their ages ranged from 18-42 years. Majority, 94.7% had heard of CAM but only 72.5% had ever used it. Of the CAM users, 63.2% used CAM only when the child was ill while 36.8% used it routinely. Sources of information about CAM was primarily from family members in 74.5% of cases with massage (62.8%) spiritual healing (41.9%) and biological products (33.2%) being the most common forms of CAM used. The symptoms which made the mothers use CAM on their children was the presence of fever (80.7%), vomiting (47.8%) and diarrhoea (37.9%). Majority (66%) of the mothers believed that CAM works and 71.8% were likely to recommend it to their friends and family. The reasons given for the use of CAM included the fact that they felt that it was more effective and cheaper than western medicine in 38.2% and 33.9% of cases respectively. The use of CAM in children by caregivers was significantly associated with age (p=0.000), religious beliefs (p=0.007), marital status (p=0.001) and socioeconomic status (p=0.000).

Conclusion: The use of CAM in children is high in Yenagoa. There is a need for appropriate public policy formulation and regulation to ensure safety of use of CAM products in children.

The study is aimed at determining the atheroprotective property of ginger (Zingiber officinale) aqueous extract to rats fed with a high-fat diet. Each group consisted of 5 rats. Group 1 represent the control group and received normal rat pellets; groups 2-5 were maintained on high-fat diet for 6 weeks to establish hyperlipidemia. Groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 received distilled water, distilled water, 400, 500 and 600 mg/kg (body weight) Zingiber officinale respectively for 4 weeks. Serum concentrations of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC) and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) were determined using standard biochemical methods. Histologic examination of tissues was by Hematoxylin-Eosin staining technique. Data were analyzed using Student’s t-test and P<0.05 was considered significant. A decrease in the mean concentrations of TG, TC, low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) and increase in HDL-C concentration of each of the treatment groups (3, 4, 5) were observed when compared with that of group 2. In rats fed high-fat diet, histologic abnormalities were observed for the heart, liver, and kidney which were not adequately corrected by ginger treatment. Results suggest that at dosage levels studied, aqueous ginger extract ameliorated biochemical but not histologic consequences of the high-fat diet.

Aim: This current study was intended to evaluate the respond of patients to the available homeopathic medicine health services at the designated government health facilities in Bangladesh. As a part of that, the potentiality of homeopathic medicines in managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including gynecological problems, skin diseases, and Ear-Nose-Throat (ENT) complaints was also determined.

Study Design: This study was conducted in a cross-sectional method; designed to collect two sets of data, one from the hospital registry, and another set was collected by interviewing the visiting patients.

Place and Duration of Study: This exploration was conducted within 10 (ten) randomly selected government hospitals, and data from first March 2017 to twenty-eighth February 2018 was considered. 

Material and Methods: In this study, 5 (five) upazilla health complexes (UHC), and 5 (five) district health complexes (DHC) were included. The collected data from these hospital registries were used for clinical data analysis. Using a predesigned questionnaire, another set of data was collected by interviewing the visiting patients; a group of 150 individual patients from these 10 hospitals (15*10=150, one hundred and fifty), was randomly nominated for demographic data analysis.

Result: The study revealed that there were 8% of patients taking homeopathic medicines among visiting patients at government hospitals. Both males (43%), females (57%) were taking help from this service. A calculated 35.33% of these patients completed the secondary school certificate, and patients with garments jobs (38%) are the principle consumers of this medical service. Patients with various non-communicable diseases including female diseases (22%), skin diseases (21%), ear-nose-throat (ENT) diseases (14%), cardio vascular diseases-CVD (13%), Hemorrhoid (13%), rheumatic fever (7%), and asthma (6%) were seeking homeopathic medicine service at the government hospitals.

Conclusion: This study result suggests with limited manpower, homeopathic medicine service helping significantly in the national health services.

Aim: This study was designed to assess the utilization of plants with anti-diabetic properties and to conduct preliminary phytochemical analysis and moreover, to assess the anti-diabetic potential of selected plants used to treat and manage Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among the residents of Pakuri (St. Cuthbert’s Mission) in Guyana.

Methodology: The leaves of sour sop (Annona muricata L.), pear (Persea americana Mill.) and Mocou-Mocou (Montrichardia arborescens L. Schott) underwent phytochemical testing and a-amylase Inhibition testing to determine their anti-diabetic properties.

Results: This study showed that the leaves of pear, sour sop and mocou mocou contained different chemical constituents including alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins and tannins but the absence of amino acids (proteins), carbohydrates and glycosides. The a-amylase inhibitory studies performed demonstrated that the extracts of A. muricata in ethanol and chloroform had significant inhibitory potential. 

Conclusion: Considering the promising potential of phytochemicals and the anti-diabetic activity of these species of plant extracts in anti-diabetic drug development, in vivo experiments and clinical trials are required for efficacy and safety evaluation. Also, the anti-diabetic phytochemicals may be used in combination with existing orthodox drugs, thereby, reducing the dose of synthetic anti-diabetic drugs, which will help in addressing the toxicity and cost-related issues in chronic use during the management of diabetes mellitus (DM).