Lichens: An update on their ethnopharmacological uses and potential as sources of drug leads.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Lichens, a unique symbiotic association between an alga/cyanobacterium and a fungus, produce secondary metabolites that are a promising source of novel drug leads. The beauty and importance of lichens have not been adequately explored despite their manifold biological activities such as anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic and antiparasitic. AIM OF THE STUDY: The present review collates and discusses the available knowledge on secondary metabolites and biological activities of lichens (in vitro and in vivo). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using relevant keywords (lichens, secondary metabolites, bioactivity, pharmacological activities), five electronic databases, namely ScienceDirect, PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus and Recent Literature on Lichens, were searched for past and current scientific contributions up until May 2022. Literature focusing broadly on the bioactivity of lichens including their secondary metabolites were identified and summarized. RESULTS: A total of 50 review articles and 189 research articles were searched. Information related to antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and insecticidal activities of 90 lichen species (from 13 families) and 12 isolated metabolites are reported. Over 90% of the studies comprised in vitro investigations, such as bioassays evaluating radical scavenging properties, lipid peroxidation inhibition and reducing power, cytotoxicity and antimicrobial bioassays of lichen species and constituents. In vivo studies were scarce and available only in fish and rats. Most of the studies were done by research groups in Brazil, France, Serbia, India and Turkey. There were relatively few reports from Asia and Africa despite the ubiquitous nature of lichens and the high occurrence in these continents. CONCLUSION: Secondary metabolites from lichens are worthy of further investigation in terms of their potential therapeutic applicability, including better understanding of their mechanism(s) of action. This would be of great importance in the search for novel drugs.

University community-based survey on the knowledge, attitude and perception about COVID-19 pandemic: the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria as a case study.

INTRODUCTION: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is impacting social, economic and political patterns globally. To contain its spread, Nigeria like many other countries, imposed drastic measures such as lockdown/curfew. OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and perception (KAP) about COVID-19 pandemic among members of staff of a university community in Nigeria. University staff members contribute to national development through dissemination of specialized knowledge and skills and guiding the young generation. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey using an anonymous, self-designed, online KAP questionnaire was conducted from April 18 to May 31, 2020. The questionnaire consisted of ten knowledge questions regarding the transmission and prevention of COVID-19. The questions on attitude (15) and perception (10) assessed respondents' behaviour towards adherence to government policies and views on government efforts to contain the infection respectively. RESULTS: A total of 125 (teaching) and 102 (non-teaching) staff responded. Approximately 59.1% of the respondents were males. The mean knowledge and positive attitude levels were 70.8% (SD ± 9.6%) and 83.1% (SD ± 13.07 %) respectively. Significant differences in the knowledge mean scores were observed for demographic categories such as educational qualification (p = 0.001), staff work category (p ≤ 0.000), work background (p ≤ 0.000), and type of lockdown (p = 0.027). Most of the respondents (85.3%) opined that COVID-19 was a biological weapon and viewed the lockdown as necessary (81.5%). However, they thought that the Nigerian government was not doing enough to mitigate COVID-19 spread. CONCLUSIONS: The perception of COVID-19 in the university community bear implications across public health initiatives, compliance with precautionary behaviour and bilateral relations with foreign nations.

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 pandemic) in Nigeria: Multi-institutional survey of knowledge, practices and perception amongst undergraduate veterinary medical students.

The novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic with an increasing public health concern. Due to the non-availability of a vaccine against the disease, non-pharmaceutical interventions constitute major preventive and control measures. However, inadequate knowledge about the disease and poor perception might limit compliance. This study examined COVID-19-related knowledge, practices, perceptions and associated factors amongst undergraduate veterinary medical students in Nigeria. A cross-sectional web survey was employed to collect data from 437 consenting respondents using pre-tested self-administered questionnaire (August 2020). Demographic factors associated with the knowledge and adoption of recommended preventive practices towards COVID-19 were explored using multivariate logistic regression at P ≤ 0.05. The respondents' mean knowledge and practice scores were 22.7 (SD ± 3.0) and 24.1 (SD ± 2.9), respectively with overall 63.4% and 88.8% displaying good knowledge and satisfactory practice levels. However, relatively lower proportions showed adherence to avoid touching face or nose (19.5%), face mask-wearing (58.1%), and social distancing (57.4%). Being in the 6th year of study (OR = 3.18, 95%CI: 1.62-6.26, P = 0.001) and female (OR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.11-4.41, P = 0.024) were significant positive predictors of good knowledge and satisfactory practices, respectively. While only 30% of the respondents perceived the pandemic as a scam or a disease of the elites (24.0%), the respondents were worried about their academics being affected negatively (55.6%). Veterinary Medical Students in Nigeria had good knowledge and satisfactory preventive practices towards COVID-19; albeit with essential gaps in the key non-pharmaceutical preventive measures recommended by the WHO. Therefore, there is a need to step up enlightenment and targeted campaigns about COVID-19 pandemic.

In vitro bioassays used in evaluating plant extracts for tick repellent and acaricidal properties: A critical review.

Ticks are haematophagous arthropods which rank closely with mosquitoes in their capacity to transmit disease pathogens of importance to animals and humans. Current control of ticks is based on the routine use of synthetic chemicals administered to animals or their environment. However, years of use and overuse of these chemicals have resulted in the development of resistance in these parasites and negative environmental impacts, hence the need for cheaper, safer and more environmentally friendly alternatives with alternate modes of action. There has been a large interest in using plants for these purposes. Peer-reviewed articles on plants evaluated for their tick repellent and/or acaricidal activities against immature and adult stages of ticks were collected from nine scientific databases with the aim of reviewing the bioassays employed. Search words included "acaricidal", "tick repellent", "antitick assays" and "phytomedicine". Many different methods were used to determine repellency and acaricidal activity. These include, among a few others, petri dish, tick climbing, olfactometer, larval packet and immersion bioassays. Tick climbing repellency and adult immersion bioassays were most commonly used. Ethanol was the most widely used solvent and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus was the most commonly studied tick across all the reviewed papers. It is unclear whether the outcome of these experiments on a one-host tick can be applied to other species of ticks that infest animals and humans. Also, most of the assays on repellency did not discriminate between olfaction and tactile chemoreception-based repellency and though some of the observed methods were similar, results differ significantly. These aspects will need further evaluation. Standardized laboratory methods are required to enable the valid comparisons between results from different laboratories.