Acute gastroenteritis and the usage pattern of antibiotics and traditional herbal medications for its management in a Nigerian community.

Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is the highest cause of mortality worldwide in children under the age of 5 years, with the highest mortalities occurring in low-to-middle income countries. Treatment can involve use of unregulated herbal medication and antibiotics. A cross sectional study was carried out to investigate the use of antibiotics and traditional herbal medications in the management of AGE among Yòrùbá-speaking communities in Kwara State, Nigeria. Our findings suggest habitual use of antibiotics (54.6%) and herbal medication (42.5%) in the management of AGE with high levels of self-prescription of antibiotics (21.7%) and herbal medications (36.2%) within the community. Ethanolic extracts of selected herbal plants reported (i.e. Aristolochia ringens, Azadirachta indica, Chromolaena odorata, Etanda Africana, Ficus capensis, Ficus vogelii, Mangifera indica, Momordica charantia, Ocimum gratisimum, Senna alata, Sorghum bicolor and Vernonia amygdalina) were investigated for antibacterial properties, using bacteria known to be causative agents of AGE. Our findings showed that, with exception of Ficus vogelii, which enhanced bacterial growth, the plant extracts reported all showed some antibacterial activity. We further discuss our findings within a regulatory context, with the aim to guide the use of traditional and herbal medication in low-to medium income countries (LMICs) and reduce the potential risks associated with the development of antimicrobial resistance.

Morton's Toe: Prevalence and Inheritance Pattern among Nigerians.

BACKGROUND: Anatomical variations have been genetically linked and the difference in the length of the big toe relative to the second toe (Morton's toe) is not an exception; however, its prevalence and inheritance pattern has been a scientific debate. Therefore, this study investigated the prevalence and inheritance pattern of Morton's toe among Nigerians in Rivers State. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 101 families comprising of 101 parents (fathers and mothers) and 135 offspring were conveniently sampled for this study. The observed big toe pattern was described as "LBT" and "SBT" representing big toe longer than the second toe and big toe shorter or equal to the second toe, respectively. The offspring trait was tabulated alongside the parental combination patterns (i.e., when both parents had LBT, both parents SBTand a combination of LBTand SBT). XLSTAT 2012 (version 4.2.2) Chi-square analysis tested the association between sex and Morton's toe. Mendelian Chi-square gene distribution model evaluated the conformance to simple dominance-recessive pattern, while the Hardy-Weinberg (H-W) equation for allele frequency compared the parental allele frequency to that of the offspring. RESULTS: LBT(218; 64.7%) was more in the studied population than SBT(119; 35.3%); with males (63; 18.7%) having slightly higher proportion of SBT (Morton's toe) than females (56; 16.6%), which was without sexual preference (χ2 = 0.141, P > 0.932). The test of offspring gene distribution in conformance to Mendelian simple dominant-recessive monohybrid cross had rather weak result. The H-W equation showed a deviation of offspring allele distribution (1:3:2.5 [2:6:5]) from the parents (1:3:2). CONCLUSION: Morton's toe could be said to be genetically linked, however, its inheritance pattern does not conform to the simple dominant-recessive model, but a more complex pattern. It should be noted that the large frequency of a trait in a population does not make it dominant.