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Aims: Inflammation has been implicated in many disorders and currently available therapies elicit adverse effects. The coarse shrub of Calotropis procera has been used in folk medicine to treat several ailments such as asthma, rheumatism and also fever. The anti-inflammatory potential of Calotropis procera was assessed in this study to evaluate its effectiveness. Place and Duration of Study: University of Cape Coast, Ghana between June 2016 and March 2017. Methodology: This study was carried out to screen for the phytochemical constituents and investigate the anti-inflammatory properties of Calotropis procera extract (CPE) using four in vitro assays (heat-induced haemolysis, hypotonic-induced haemolysis, albumin denaturation and the bovine serum albumin assay (BSA)) and, two in vivo models (carrageenan and formalin-induced paw oedema models). Three graded concentrations of the plant extract (CPE) and a standard anti-inflammatory agent, diclofenac: 100, 300 and 1000 μg/mL were used in the in vitro models while 30, 100 and 300 mg/kg were used in the in vivo experiments. Qualitative tests for tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, triterpenoids, steroids, proteins, reducing sugars, glycosides, saponins and amino acids were performed to determine the phytochemical constituents of the extract. Results: The phytochemical screening revealed presence of alkaloids, tannins and triterpenes, reducing sugars, sterols, amino acids, and glycosides. CPE 1000μg/mL demonstrated anti-inflammatory characteristics by significantly stabilizing RBCs exposed to heat and hypotonic solution and also inhibiting protein denaturation in heat-induced denaturation (69.24%); hypotonic-induced (85.09%); albumin denaturation (87.80%) and BSA (96.86% assays). Similar results were observed for the two lower doses of CPE as well as diclofenac. In the in vivo tests, CPE was able to significantly reduce both carrageenan-induced (P=0.0105) and formalin-induced inflammation (P

Inflammation is the immune response of the body to infection and injury. Inflammation aims at eliminating the pathogen or causative agent, removing necrotic cells and tissues and initiating repair process. IL-6. TNF-α and CRP are biomarkers of inflammation. This study sought to determine the pro-inflammatory markers among HIV patients on HAART and HAART naïve patients. This was a hospital-based, case control study conducted among 150 participants. HIV patients’ on HAART (n = 50) and HAART naïve HIV (n = 50) patients and the control group (n = 50) was HIV Seronegative individuals. Venous blood was drawn from each of the participant. Serial dilutions of standards of TNF-α, IL-6 and CRP were made and mixed with 10 μL of patients’ blood. Absorbance was read at 450 nm within 15 min with Mindray MR-96A reader. Among the study population, IL-6 levels was higher in HAART naïve HIV patients 17.66(13.00 - 24.10) ng/L, and these same group also recorded the highest CRP and TNF-α levels of 1453(328.8 – 2510) µg/L and 318.3(123.0 - 497.9) ng/L respectively. The present study revealed elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, CRP and TNF-α) in seropositive HIV groups compared to seronegative group.&nbsp

Background: Emergencies are unpredictable hence when they occur, they lead to immediate demand on public health resources. The capability of affected institutions and countries to handle such situations can be compromised, exposing the deficiencies at the various levels of their emergency preparedness. Objective: This study therefore sought to investigate the emergency preparedness and how communicable diseases are managed in public hospitals in the Kumasi Metropolis. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study performed among health care workers in five public hospitals in the Kumasi Metropolis using stratified random sampling technique. A total of 450 health workers from the five hospitals were recruited for the study. However, 360 of them participated in the study. A self-administered structured questionnaire was administered which reflected the objectives of the study. A quantitative method was employed to show how the variables were related. Results: The study revealed that the facilities have emergency preparedness plans and teams for handling disease outbreaks and also, there were treatment protocols present on the walls in the facilities. 85% of communicable diseases diagnosed were isolated and treated at the facility, 12% was referred and 3% of the cases were treated and sent home. 87 % of respondents indicated that there were no separate and specific structures for admitting and treating communicable diseases Conclusion: Public hospitals are well prepared for any disease outbreak in the Kumasi Metropolis.