Abstract: In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), medicinal plants represent the main product for both urban and rural populations for their health care needs due to the high costs of conventional medicine. These plant species contain bioactive compounds also called phytochemicals that are capable of modulating metabolic processes and resulting in the promotion of better health. Some of these plants act therefore as functional foods and could serve as sources of nutraceuticals. Psophocarpus scandens, an unconventional green leafy vegetable, is well known to have antioxidant activity which is one of the modes of action of Sickle cell disease (SCD) drugs. To justify this study, it was hypothesized that P. scandens possess antisickling properties. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antisickling activity of organic acids rich extract from P. scandens using in vitro biological experiments (Emmel, Itano and hemolysis tests). The results revealed that P. scadens have antisickling properties in vitro (normalization rate: 80%). This bioactivity is expressed as the re-appearance of the normal and classical biconcave form of red blood cells (RBCs: from 0.00±0.00 to 3.55±0.28 µm) in hypoxic conditions by reducing the perimeter of sickle RBCs (from 35.26±1.21 to 19.80±1.15 µm) and increasing their surface (from 21.41±1.84 to 34.10±1.76 µm2) (p<0.05). The bioactivity displayed could be due to triterpenoic acids which are able to reduce both the rate of hemolysis (hemolysis inhibition ˃50%) and the aggregation of deoxy-Hb S (hemoglobin S polymerization inhibition rate ˃80%) as experimentally demonstrated. Literature search revealed that this green leafy vegetable contains polyphenolic compounds (glucosylated flavonoids and phenolic acids) with antioxidant properties and all essential amino-acids. Thus, the daily consumption of P. scandens fortified with the leaves powder of Moringa oleirera could considerably reduce in vivo oxidative stress and hemolysis associated with clinical manifestation of SCD. Based on current knowledge this is a first report on the antisickling activity of P. scandens. It is desirable that the bio-guided fractionation of organic acids extract could be carried out in order to isolate and elucidate the structure of bioactive pure compound(s).Abstract: In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), medicinal plants represent the main product for both urban and rural populations for their health care needs due to the high costs of conventional medicine. These plant species contain bioactive compounds also called phytochemicals that are capable of modulating metabolic processes and resulting in the...Show More
Abstract: This work sought to assess the impact of reducing maternal mortality through policy and educational programs in Ghana (Case study of Ho Municipality). specific objectives are assess the educational level of the maternal mother in the Ho municipality, assess the trend of maternal mortality in Ho municipality, comparing the mortality figures of the Ho municipality to that of the region, determine the factors that discourage the maternal mothers from attending antenatal care and assess whether antennal attendance depend on the awareness of maternal programs and policies. A sample of 385 maternal mothers was convenience selected for the study. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were computed. Results revealed that antenatal educational programs influence antenatal attendance among pregnant women. The study also reveals that time spend at the clinic or hospital and the attitudes of some of the health workers appears to be the major factors that discourage maternal mother from attending antenatal care whiles cost of transportation and the distance to the hospital was a problem for maternal mother coming from the rural areas. It was however recommended that health facilities should organize public education for maternal mothers that cannot read and write in the villages about pregnancy and self-medications. Public address system should be provided to the villages that do not have access to radio sets and electricity. The programs and policies should be design in different local languages apart from the English for easy and faster understanding.Abstract: This work sought to assess the impact of reducing maternal mortality through policy and educational programs in Ghana (Case study of Ho Municipality). specific objectives are assess the educational level of the maternal mother in the Ho municipality, assess the trend of maternal mortality in Ho municipality, comparing the mortality figures of the H...Show More
