Preliminary in vitro antisickilng properties of crude juice extracts of Persia Americana, Citrus sinensis, Carica papaya and Ciklavit®.

The antisickling properties of crude juice extracts of the edible portions of three commonly consumed tropical fruits namely Persia americana, Citrus sinensis, and Carica papaya were investigated in vitro alongside a new drug preparation called Ciklavit® that has antisickling activity. Four different solvent extracts of the crude juice of each fruit including aqueous, acidic, alkaline and alcoholic extracts were prepared and their antisickling effects on sickle cell trait (HbAS) and sickle cell disease (HbSS) blood samples checked alongside Ciklavit®. Blood samples were stabilized using normal saline and the antisickling effects were checked by counting the number of sickle cells remaining after incubation of the blood samples with the crude fruit extracts and Ciklavit® for twenty-four hours. The results showed that Ciklavit® produced a sustained reduction in the number of sickle cells in both HbAS and HbSS blood samples. Also the alkaline and alcoholic extracts of P. americana and C. papaya produced significant reduction in the number of sickle cells.

Dietary secondary amines and liver hepatoma in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Dietary secondary amines of some Nigerian foodstuffs were analyzed by Soxhlet extraction, using petroleum ether (b.p. 60-80 degrees C); followed by thin layer chromatography developed in a solvent system; n-butanol: 95% ethanol: water (4:2:1) for the qualitative test. Each UV fluorescent band in the test chromatogram was scraped and eluted with distilled water, filtered and assayed for secondary amine content for the quantitative test. Quantitative estimations were by the colorimetric methods. The results show that Ugu--Telfairia occidentalo; millet--Panicum miliaceum; bitter leaf--Vernonia amygdalina; mushroom--Boletus spp; and Okro--Hibiscus esculentus contain diethylamine, dimethylamine, morpholine and ethylaniline. Garri--Manihot utilissima flour contains diethylamine and dimethylamine only; while fish (frozen) Tilapia malanopleura contains diethylamine, dimethylamine and piperidine and the smoked fish--Tilapia nilotica contains diethylamine, dimethylamine, ethylaniline, morpholine, piperidine and n-propylamine. Cocoyam--Xanthosoma sagittifolium contains diethylamine, dimethylamine, morpholine, ethylaniline and proline. The results also show that the secondary amine content of the various foodstuffs ranged between 0.80-0.91 microg N/kg. The public health implications of these findings are discussed.

N-nitrosamines and Nigerian habitual drinks, and cancer.

Commercially available samples of Nigerian lager beers and bottled palm wine, and of root cuttings of medicinal plants, assayed for volatile N-nitroso compounds and nitrosatable entities, respectively, by chromatographic, chemiluminescence, colorimetric, derivatisation and nitrosation methods, contained nitrosodimethylamine (0.2-2.3 micrograms/kg; mean, 0.9 micrograms/kg) only in the drinks, and dimethylamine (DMA) and piperidine (1 mg/kg as DMA) in the roots.