Celecoxib, a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor, offers chemoprevention against reproductive and neurobehavioural abnormalities induced by atrazine in male Wistar rats.

The cyclooxygenase-2/prostanoid pathway (COX-2) serves as a potential therapeutic target in various pathological conditions. Thus, the modulatory effect of celecoxib (CXB), a COX-2 inhibitor, in atrazine-induced toxicity was investigated. Five groups (n = 6 rats per group) of adult male Wistar rats received corn oil (2 ml/kg), atrazine (ATZ, 300 mg/kg) and CXB (5.7 mg/kg) respectively and their combinations via the oral route. Results obtained showed reduced (p < 0.05) sperm motility (25.8%) and counts (27.6%), testosterone (29.9%), luteinizing (33%) and follicle stimulating hormones (78.7%) plus elevated total cholesterol (112.3%), triglyceride (115.7%), malondialdehyde levels respectively in ATZ-treated rats. Similarly, ATZ administration causes reduced locomotion (33.6%), spontaneous motor activity (46.6%) and catalepsy effects (157.3%) respectively. However, CXB divided doses moderately reverse reproductive abnormalities, modulate neurobehavioural deficits and slightly preserved COX-2 elevation following ATZ intoxication. Furthermore, histopathology of testis shows improvement in treated rats. Overall, our data suggest chemopreventive actions via pharmacological inhibition of COX-2 activity during ATZ toxicity.

Prevalence of asymptomatic sacroiliac joint dysfunction and its association with leg length discrepancies in male students in selected junior secondary schools in Ibadan.

Sacroiliac joint dysfunction (SIJD) and leg length discrepancies are commonly associated with each other and the two entities are often implicated as possible precursors of a number of musculoskeletal disorders in the general population. This study investigated the prevalence of asymptomatic sacroiliac joint dysfunction (ASIJD), leg length discrepancy (LLD) and the association between the two entities in male students in selected junior secondary schools in Ibadan. Two hundred and three male junior secondary school students aged 10-15 years participated in this study. Participants were screened for SIJD using four standardized palpatory tests and for real and apparent leg length discrepancies using standardized tape measure techniques. Chi-square test was used to investigate the association between ASIJD and prevalence of LLD at alpha level of 0.05. The prevalence of ASIJD among participants in this study was 21.7%. Sixty five percent and 52.0% of the participants had real and apparent LLD > or = 0.5 cm respectively. The 26.0% prevalence of ASUJD among participants with real LLD > or = 0.5 cm was significantly higher than prevalence in those with apparent LLD. We concluded that one out of every five male students in the study population had ASIJD and this was significantly associated with RLLD.