Morphometric study of sciatic nerve and its topographic anatomical variations in relation to landmark structures around pelvis: a Nigerian population study.

BACKGROUND: Sciatic nerve (SN) presents significant variations that pertain to its topography and divisions. The topographic variation shows sex effect due to differences in the dimension of pelvis that makes for the adaptability of female pelvis for pregnancy and childbirth. The objective therefore was to evaluate the SN morphology and its topographical variations in relation to landmark structures in the pelvis of both sexes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety-eight lower limb adult cadavers, 66 males and 32 females devoid of any gross pathology from Nigerians were used for the study. The cadavers were dissected to expose the SNs and the variations recorded. Anthropological measurements were taken and analysed using a Spearman's rank-order correlation model. RESULTS: The relationships between SN and the piriformis muscle shows five varied types with the typical type comprising 83.0%. The largest thickness of SN in males and females were 18.5 cm and 17.3 cm, respectively while the smallest thickness were 8.6 cm and 11.9 cm, respectively. The dimensions between posterior superior iliac spine and greater trochanter (PSIS-GT) and between lateral edges of SN intersection with piriformis to the tip of greater trochanter (LESN-GT) shows inverse correlation relationship between the two sexes. In males, there was a weak positive correlation (rs = 0.165) between LESN-GT (4.75 ± 1.52) and PSIS-GT (15.3 ± 2.90) which was not statistically significant at 0.01 level (p = 0.989). In females, the relationship between LESN-GT (6.39 ± 0.59) and PSIS-GT (12.2 ± 3.70) shows moderate negative correlation (rs = -0.476) which was not statistically significant at 0.01 level (p = 0.195). CONCLUSIONS: The dimension of LESN-GT which was observed to be longer in females was deemed to account for the deviation of sciatic nerve of females from the males' topographic anatomical relations.

Foliar nutrient and metal levels of crops in the Mount Cameroon area-reference values for plant nutrition and environmental monitoring.

The growing population number and traffic loads, increasing environmental pressures, agricultural intensification, and the establishment of Mount Cameroon National Park demand farsighted environmental management in the region and the definition of a favorable ecological status. Since plants grow in the interface between soils and the atmosphere they can be used as passive biomonitors for the environmental quality. At the same time, the accumulation of nutrients and pollutants in crops is linked to human health, so that foliar elemental levels can be used as an integrative measure for environmental pollution and impact assessment. In the present study, we collected leaf samples of plantain, cassava, cocoyam, and maize on 28 sites at the southern flanks of Mt. Cameroon and determined 20 chemical elements. Air pollution in the study area comes from biomass and waste burning mainly, but emissions from traffic and a large refinery were believed to also play a significant role. However, spatial patterns in foliar elemental concentrations reflected the geochemistry rather than specific sources of pollution. Significant differences in foliar metal and nutrient levels were observed between the four species, indicating a different demand and uptake of specific elements. The results were compared to published data on nutrient concentrations in the tested species and the so-called reference plant. The data can be used as a baseline for future studies in plant nutrition and the environmental monitoring in inner tropical regions where these crops are grown.

A 5-month toxicity study of the ethanol extract of the leaves of Heliotropium indicum in Sprague Dawley rats after oral administration.

BACKGROUND: Heliotropium indicum Linn. (Boraginaceae) is used in Nigerian traditional medicine to treat tuberculosis with treatment lasting for 3 months; however, information on its toxicity is scarce. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the safety of the leaves of Heliotropium indicum after a 5 month oral administration. METHODS: The leaves of H. indicum were dried; extracted in 70% ethanol and concentrated to dryness. Swiss mice were administered orally with single doses of the extract (0.5 to 12.0 g/kg b.wt /day); mortality was examined for up to 14 days. In another study, the plant material (0.5 to 2.0 g/kg b.wt /day) were administered daily by oral gavage to Sprague Dawley rats. Body weight was monitored weekly, hematological, biochemical and organ parameters were determined at the end of the 1st, 2nd and 5th months of extract administration. RESULTS: The oral administration of the ethanol extract of H. indicum caused dose-dependent mortality. The LD50 was 9.78 g/kg b.wt for the Swiss mice; no harmful effect was observed on the liver and kidney except the testes which exhibited considerable inflammatory changes at the highest dose of 2.0 g/kg b.wt./day after the 5th month treatment. No significant difference (P>0.05) was shown in the enzyme study, marginal increase occurred in some haematological parameters. The increase in body weight of the treated rats after its initial reduction was consistent and significantly different (P<0.05) from their initial body weight. CONCLUSION: Prolonged administration of the crude leaf extract of H. indicum is considered to be safe and nontoxic at the doses studied. However, there is a probability of a negative effect on the testes at a higher dose of the extract.