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Honey has been used widely for the treatment of various types of chronic burns, necrotic diabetic foot and post-operative split skin wounds. Despite the fact that wounds in diabetic patients are similar to wounds in normal patients, the healing process is different from that of other wounds. The most worrisome aspect of diabetic wounds is that the healing process is unduly prolonged. Poor oxygenation of tissues occurs in diabetic wounds and is caused by early inflammatory responses and a heavy load of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) induced by high blood sugar levels in diabetic patients. The formation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) under severe hyperglycemic conditions and interaction with their receptors (RAGE) are also known to impair wound healing among diabetic patients. The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects of natural honey significantly promote the healing process in diabetic wounds. This is due to the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) produced by the action of glucose oxidase on glucose in the honey, nitric oxide and the hyperosmolar nature of natural honey. Honey also stimulates angiogenesis in the wound environment thereby enhancing wound healing in diabetics. The potent antioxidants in natural honey include, phenolics, flavonoids, ascorbic acid and certain enzymes such as catalase. Glucose oxidase from the bee crop slowly breaks down glucose into gluconic acid, which lowers the pH of honey, and the presence of hydrogen peroxide helps to kill bacteria in diabetic wounds. In a wound site, the lower pH of honey (3.5–4) reduces protease activity, increases oxygen release from hemoglobin, and stimulates the activity of macrophages and fibroblasts, while the hydrogen peroxide content sterilizes the wound and stimulates vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production.

Aim: The study investigated the effect of using different activating agents- Nitric acid, Zinc chloride and Phosphoric acid on the adsorption of potassium cyanide by activated charcoal. We also investigated the In vitro effect of various doses of activated charcoal from different agro-based sources (Coconut shell, Rice husk, Castor oil seed shell, Edible clay and Plantain peels) on the adsorption of cyanide. Materials and methods: 50ml of 1M potassium cyanide was pipetted into two beakers for each sample of the prepared activated charcoal ranging from 0.5 g to 2.0 g. The resultant mixtures were agitated for 1 hour and allowed to stand for 24 hours at room temperature. The mixtures were filtered using whatman filter paper. The filtrates were analyzed for cyanide concentration using ninhydrin method and the absorbance read with ultraviolet-spectrophotometry. The absorbance was then converted to cyanide concentrations in mg/dl using standard cyanide concentrations graphs. Results: The results showed some statistically significant differences in the potassium cyanide adsorption by the different samples of prepared carbon materials activated with different activating agents except for coconut shell activated with zinc chloride. The cyanide adsorption was found to be in the same range for the activated charcoal samples prepared from different sources irrespective of the doses used in the experiment. Conclusion: The adsorptive capacities of different samples of activated charcoal varied significantly with the type of chemical activating agents used in the activation of the carbon. Coconut shell activated with HNO3 and H3P04 showed the best adsorption capacity. The cyanide adsorption by the locally-prepared activated charcoal was found to be better than that of the standard commercial activated charcoal.

Introduction : there has not been any recent nationwide health (diabetes) survey in Nigeria ever since the last one conducted in 1992 which reported a diabetes mellitus (DM) prevalence of 2.2%. We aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of DM in Nigeria using a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods : we searched Medline, EMBASE, PubMed, Papers First, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, Bioline, African Journal Online, Institute of Science Information, and Google Scholar from year 1990 to 2016. Using MeSH headings, text words and word variations of diabetes mellitus, risk factors, prevalence and Nigeria was searched. The last search was performed on the 26th November 2016. We included only studies utilizing OGTT, random plasma glucose, fasting plasma glucose or HbA1c for diagnosis of DM. We included 23 studies (n = 14,650 persons). A random effect modeling was used to determine the pooled estimate of DM. We estimated overall pooled prevalence estimates of DM and sub group specific prevalence accounting for inter-study and intra-study variability/heterogeneity. Results : the overall pooled prevalence of DM was 5.77% (95% CI; 4.3-7.1). The pooled prevalence of DM according to the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria showed North-west 3.0% (95%CI; 1.7–4.3), North-East 5.9% (95%CI; 2.4–9.4), North-Central 3.8% (95%CI; 2.9–4.7), South-West 5.5% (95%CI; 4.0–7.1), South-East 4.6% (95%CI; 3.4–5.9), and South-South 9.8% (95%CI; 7.2–12.4). The pooled prevalence of DM among individuals with family history of DM was 4.6% (95%CI; 3.5 – 5.6); urban dwellers 6.0% (95%CI; 4.3–7.8); unhealthy dietary habits 8.0% (95%CI; 5.4 – 10.5); cigarette smokers 4.4% (95%CI; 1.3 – 10.2); older age 6.6% (95%CI; 4.5 – 8.7); the physically inactive 4.8% (95%CI; 3.2 – 6.4); and obese individuals 5.3% (95%CI; 3.8 – 6.9). Conclusion : there is an increase in the prevalence of DM in Nigeria affecting all regions of the country with the highest prevalence in the south-south geopolitical zone. Urban dwelling, physical inactivity, advancing age and unhealthy diet are important risk factors for DM among Nigerians. A national diabetes care and prevention policy is highly recommended.

Introduction : Glycated Haemoglobin (HbA1c) has been recommended for use as a diagnostic tool for diabetes mellitus (DM), but has not been adequately validated in the African population. We aimed to compare HbA1c and the OGTT in the diagnosis of type 2 DM, and to establish the optimal diagnostic cut-off value of HbA1c for diabetes Mellitus among Nigerians. Methods : a cross-sectional population-based screening of 1200 apparently healthy adults was performed using the WHO STEP wise method in Kano, Northwestern Nigeria using a multistage cluster random sampling technique. The fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was performed on subjects who observed the standard protocol (8 – 12 hour overnight fast) while casual plasma glucose (CPG) estimation was performed on the remaining subjects. HbA1c assay and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) were also performed on all subjects who had FPG between 6.1 – 6.9mmol/l or CPG between 7.8 – 11.0 mmol/l. The validity of the HbA1c was calculated while the receiver operator characteristics curve was used to establish the optimum diagnostic cut-off value for the HbA1c. Results : HbA1c 5.7- 6.4% identified 2.28% subjects as pre-diabetes. In subjects at high risk of diabetes, the OGTT identified newly diagnosed diabetes in 14 (1.37%) subjects, while the HbA1c 10 (0.98%) subjects. HbA1c cut-off value of ≥ 6.5% compared with FPG had a specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 63.63%, 98.92%, 70.00% and 98.57% while compared to OGTT, the HbA1c had a specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 57.14%, 96.49%, 80.00% and 90.16%. Conclusion : the use of glycated haemoglobin as a potential screening and diagnostic approach for T2DM in Nigerian adults at high risk of DM may be useful for its convenience after adjusting for confounders. An HbA1c cut-off value of 6.2% has an optimal sensitivity and specificity of 76.2% and 80.9% and can be used as a screening test.