University of Nigeria, Nsukka

About: University of Nigeria, Nsukka is a education organization based out in Nsukka, Nigeria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Health care. The organization has 10211 authors who have published 13685 publications receiving 138922 citations.

Albinism in Nigeria with delineation of new recessive oculocutaneous type

Abstract: Seventy-nine Nigerian oculocutaneous albinos were investigated. Fifty-six had typical tyrosinase-positive albinism (TPA) and 23 had brown albinism (BA), a new oculocutaneous type. The TPA were characterized by localized but no generalized skin pigment, yellow hair, blue to brown irides, nystagmus, and reduced or absent retinal pigment. Localized skin pigment included freckles and lentigines. The iris and skin pigment were the result of the slow accumulation of pigment with age as both were found in older individuals. The most severe skin changes were premalignant keratoses and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, and the skin malignancies were the major factor in limiting the lifespan for TPA. The BA were characterized by generalized light brown skin pigment, light brown hair, blue to brown irides, nystagmus, and reduced retinal pigment. There was little accumulation or change of pigment in the eyes or skin with age. The generalized light skin pigment was effective in reducing sensitivity to solar radiation and very few BA had premalignant keratoses. Pedigree analysis for BA suggested an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern.

Natural Products as Potential Sources of Antidiabetic Drugs

Abstract: Natural products have played and continue to play an invaluable role in the treatment of various diseases and in drug discovery processes. It has remained a source of new compounds with diversified structural arrangements possessing interesting biological activities for various disease treatments. Drugs from natural products are usually considered to be safer, cheaper, easily available and sometimes more efficacious than purely synthetic ones. In recent years, scientists have been in search for safer and more potent drugs from natural sources particularly from medicinal plants. Diabetes is one of the chronic disorders which are associated with high mortality risk. The existing drugs have been identified with one or more adverse effects. In the present review, literature was surveyed to highlight the merits of natural products with regard to their role in diabetic management. Notwithstanding the seemingly decline in the natural product approach to drug discovery in favor of modern approaches such as combinatorial chemistry, literature survey has shown that a lot of research effort is still being directed to natural product in search for new antidiabetic agents. Several antidiabetic phytoconstituents have been isolated from medicinal plants and these were of chemically diversified nature which includes flavonoids, glycosides, terpens, polysaccharides and polypeptides. Based on the merits of nature based medicines, the authors advocate the use of standardized crude forms of some of the natural drugs. Further researches geared towards exploiting the vast array of natural products in our environment and development of the isolated compounds to clinically useful drugs for diabetes management is advocated.

Ischemic stroke and neuroprotection

Abstract: Stroke is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries of the world. Greater understanding of the pathophysiology of neuronal damage in ischemic stroke has generated interest in neuroprotection as a management strategy. This paper aims to review the current concept and place of neuroprotection in ischemic stroke. An extensive search of all materials related to the topic was made using library sources including Pubmed and Medline searches. Current research findings were also included. The findings are as presented. Neuroprotection is an increasingly recognized management strategy in ischemic stroke that promises to assist clinicians in reducing stroke mortality rates and improving the quality of life of survivors.