UNDERGRADUATE

This research centers on the complex relationship between high salt intake, hypertension, immune markers and antihypertensive drugs. Despite knowing the detrimental effects of salt on blood pressure, the specific molecular mechanisms connecting these factors are not fully understood and how antihypertensive drugs affect immune function markers. The aim of this study is to see how antihypertensive medications affect immune function markers in a salt-loaded animal model. Twenty-five Sprague Dawley male rats weighing between 110g-130g was purchased from Lagos and housed in the Animal Unit of theDepartment of Pharmacology, and allowed to acclimatize for 2 weeks thereafter were randomly divided into 5 groups of 5 rats each. Group 1; control received normal rat chow and tap water, Group 2; Received high salt diet of 8% NaC1 (HS) alone for 8 weeks as described by, Group 3; Received high salt diet + 2.3mg/kg/d Lisinopril, Group 4; Received high salt + 0.1mg/kg/d verapamil, Group 5; Received high salt + 10mg/kg/d Losartan. Feeding and drug administration was by oral gavage for 8 weeks. Blood pressure (BP) (mmHg), heart rate (bpm) and weight measurement was done before the animals were humanely sacrificed using chloroform anaesthesia. The result shows a significant increase in the Mean arterial blood pressure in salt-loaded rats compared with the control, while antihypertensive drugs caused attenuation in blood pressure increase when compared with the salt-loaded group. Lisinopril in particular reversed the trend; suggesting renin angiotensin-mediated primary pathway in salt-induced hypertension. There were no significant changes in the heart rate of the animals. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ration was significantly increased in salt-loaded rats compared with control and much more in Lisinopril and verapamil co-treated salt-loaded rats. The result shows a significant increase in the salt loaded group when compared with the control group, meanwhile there was no significant difference in the salt loaded group treated with different antihypertensive drugs lisinopril and losartan compared with the salt loaded while verapamil shows a significant decrease in interleukin-6 levels when compared with the high salt group. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) significantly increased in salt-loaded rats compared with the control, while in antihypertensive drugs it shows a decrease when compared with the salt-loaded group. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) significantly increased in salt-loaded rats compared with the control; in lisinopril it shows no significant difference when compared with the salt-loaded group while lorsartan and verapamil shows a decrease in ROS activities. In conclusion, this research shows that excessive high salt consumption triggers inflammatory tissue responses which could lead to hypertension and this project study is a pointer to the fact that increases activity of immune cells could pre dispose to hypertension and this effect are ameliorated by antihypertensive drugs, especially lisinopril and verapamil.

immune markers and antihypertensive drugs. Despite knowing the detrimental effects of salt on blood pressure, the specific molecular mechanisms connecting these factors are not fully understood and how antihypertensive drugs affect immune function markers. The aim of this study is to see how antihypertensive medications affect immune function markers in a salt-loaded animal model. Twenty-five Sprague Dawley male rats weighing between 110g-130g was purchased from Lagos and housed in the Animal Unit of the Department of Pharmacology, and allowed to acclimatize for 2 weeks thereafter were randomly divided into 5 groups of 5 rats each. Group 1; control received normal rat chow and tap water, Group 2; Received high salt diet of 8% NaC1 (HS) alone for 8 weeks as described by, Group 3; Received high salt diet + 2.3mg/kg/d Lisinopril, Group 4; Received high salt + 0.1mg/kg/d verapamil, Group 5; Received high salt + 10mg/kg/d Losartan. Feeding and drug administration was by oral gavage for 8 weeks. Blood pressure (BP) (mmHg), heart rate (bpm) and weight measurement was done before theNanimals were humanely sacrificed using chloroform anaesthesia. The result shows a significant increase in the Mean arterial blood pressure in salt-loaded rats compared with the control, while antihypertensive drugs caused attenuation in blood pressure increase when compared with the salt-loaded group. Lisinopril in particular reversed the trend; suggesting renin angiotensin-mediated primary pathway in salt-induced hypertension. There were no significant changes in the heart rate of the animals. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ration was significantly increased in salt-loaded rats compared with control and much more in Lisinopril and verapamil co-treated salt-loaded rats. The result shows a significant increase in the salt loaded group when compared with the control group, meanwhile there was no significant difference in the salt loaded group treated with different antihypertensive drugs lisinopril and losartan compared with the salt loaded while verapamil shows a significant decrease in interleukin-6 levels when compared with the high salt group. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) significantly increased in salt-loaded rats compared with the control, while in antihypertensive drugs it shows a decrease when compared with the salt-loaded group. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) significantly increased in salt-loaded rats compared with the control; in lisinopril it shows no significant difference when compared with the salt-loaded group while lorsartan and verapamil shows a decrease in ROS activities. In conclusion, this research shows that excessive high salt consumption triggers inflammatory tissue responses which could lead to hypertension and this project study is a pointer to the fact that increases activity of immune cells could pre dispose to hypertension and this effect are ameliorated by antihypertensive drugs, especially lisinopril and verapamil.

This Study evaluated the assessment on undergraduate Biology Students knowledge on the concept of Plant Nutrition at University of Benin, Two (2) research questions served as it's guidelines, and it used a descriptive survey study design. It sought to find out the level of understanding of undergraduate biology students on the concept of plant nutrient and significantly different by sex. The study employed the descriptive survey random design of Biology students in University of Benin, Edo State and a total of (100) respondents which were collected from Biology department of University of Benin. The researcher developed achievement test questionnaire on "undergraduate Biology Students knowledge on the concept of Plant Nutrition" was used as the data collection tool. There are twenty (20) questions on the achievement test. To analyze the data collected, descriptive statistics such as simple percentage and frequency were used. The study find out that 100-200 level Students have a basic understanding of basic concepts related to plant nutrition but they lacked in-depth comprehension of plant nutrition. 300 and 400 level undergraduate students displayed a deeper comprehension and have more understanding of plant nutrition concept. The findings of the study also reveals that gender can influence educational outcomes in concept of plant nutrient, attitudes towards plant nutrition can also differ by gender, female students expressed greater interest in plant nutrition. It was suggested that the curriculum for 100-200 level students be revised to include more detailed and practical content on plant nutrition. Given that female students showed greater interest in plant nutrition, it is suggested that teaching strategies be tailored to engage both male and female students equally