Cancer is a life-threatening disease contributing to ~3.4 million deaths worldwide. There are various causes of cancer, such as smoking, being overweight or obese, intake of processed meat, radiation, family history, stress, environmental factors, and chance. The first-line treatment of cancer is the surgical removal of solid tumours, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. The systemic administration of the free drug is considered to be the main clinical failure of chemotherapy in cancer treatment, as limited drug concentration reaches the tumour site. Most of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in chemotherapy are highly cytotoxic to both cancer and normal cells. Accordingly, targeting the tumour vasculatures is essential for tumour treatment. In this context, encapsulation of anti-cancer drugs within the liposomal system offers secure platforms for the targeted delivery of anti-cancer drugs for the treatment of cancer. This, in turn, can be helpful for reducing the cytotoxic side effects of anti-cancer drugs on normal cells. This short-review focuses on the use of liposomes in anti-cancer drug delivery.

The ability of domestic cooking gas to induce hepatotoxicity and clastogenicity in mice was studied. The mice were exposed to domestic gas for twenty-one days at doses of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg respectively. The positive control group of mice were given sodium arsenite intraperitoneously at a dose of 2.5mg/kg body weight. While the negative control group had only distilled water, sodium arsenite significantly (p < 0.05) induced the formation of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (mPCEs), serum and liver gamma glutamyl transferase (γGT) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) activities respectively as compared with the observations made in the negative control group. Similarly, the domestic gas significantly (p<0.05) induced mPCEs formation, serum and liver, γGT and AP activities. The degree of induction was in the order of 100 mg/kg < 200 mg/kg < 300 mg/kg. However, when compared with the positive control group, the domestic cooking gas at the tested doses was not as potent as sodium arsenite in its ability to induce enzyme activity and mPCEs formation. Limited histopathological analysis of liver samples from treated and untreated mice showed distended blood vessels, necrosis and hepatocellular degeneration in the groups treated with high doses of domestic gas or sodium arsenite as compared with the untreated group. Our findings suggest that the domestic cooking gas has some degree of clastogenic and hepatotoxic activities in mice. Health risks may therefore be associated with long-term occupational and / or domestic exposure in humans.

Toward the development of drug carriers that are capable of crossing biological membranes, controlled emulsion polymerization has been utilized to produce nanoparticulate carriers from the combination of poly(alkyl cyanoacrylate) and alkylglyceryl dextran to a molecular structure designed to combine the nonimmunogenic and stabilizing properties of dextran with the demonstrated permeation enhancing ability of alkylglycerols. To this aim, a systematic series of alkylglyceryl dextrans have been synthesized and functionalized with ethyl or butyl cyanoacrylates to form stable polymeric nanocarriers (100–500 nm). Results of investigations into their capability to act as controlled-release devices and their cytotoxicity against bEnd3 cells are reported. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Cypermethrin (CYP) is one of the most common active ingredients in most insecticides, mosquito coils and powder used in Nigeria. dichlorvos (DDVP) is the most indiscriminately used fumigant in most rural and sub-urban areas in Nigeria. These fumigants can easily be accessed without proper method of usage thus exposing the population to their toxic effects. As a result, this study was initiated to determine the effects of sub-acute exposure of CYP and DDVP on some biochemical and histopathological parameters of albino rats. In this study, forty (40) albino rats of 10 groups of 4 rats per group, with one group serving as control, were exposed to these fumigants in a poorly ventilated area for 4hours per day over 2, 4 and 6 weeks. The results showed observable changes in liver enzyme activities (p<0.05) in groups exposed to DDVP for 2, 4 and 6 weeks. The groups exposed to CYP showed mild changes in liver enzyme activities when compared with the DDVP groups. Increase in activity of the liver enzymes was also observed in the groups exposed to a mixture of DDVP+CYP for 2, 4 and 6 weeks. The urea, creatinine and electrolytes levels in all the groups exposed to DDVP, CYP and DDVP+CYP for 2, 4 and 6weeks were significantly (p<0.05) increased. Also WBC and platelets in all the groups exposed to DDVP and CYP recorded significant changes. The histology report of the lungs and liver showed moderate lymphocytic infiltration and hepatocytic steatosis which progressed with duration of exposure to the fumigants, while the kidneys showed no remarkable changes. The results of this study suggest that DDVP and CYP have relative toxic effects in the exposed animals and should be used with caution to avoid human exposure to their visible toxicities.

Background: HIV/AIDS has been described as the fourth largest cause of death globally and leading cause of death in Africa. HIV/AIDS has been a devastating inferno for nearly 30 years, and has particularly impacted countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In most African countries, it has been reported that the HIV infection amongst the military has been shown to be about 2 to 5 times higher than their civilian counterparts. Objective: To address the knowledge level of HIV/AIDS and risk-related behaviours in military personnel, a well described high risk groups for HIV/AIDS. Methods: A cross-sectional study among army personnel in 82 Division Nigerian Army Headquarters Enugu, which has a population of about 1777. A random sampling in all the departments of 82 Division Nigerian Army Headquarters was done using the ballot method to select the respondents. Approval for the study was obtained from the General Officer in Command (GOC) of the 82 Division Nigerian Army Headquarters Enugu. Results: There were no significant differences between the risk related behavior variables when comparisons were made between those under 30 years, and those 30 years and above. Furthermore, more respondents under 30 years (48.0%) did not seek medical treatment when infected with another STI before having sex again as against 45% of those above 30 years. Most of the respondents (9.1%) under the age of 30 years believed that HIV/AIDS could be contracted through mosquito bites as against 2.8% of those above 30 years. Conclusion: The knowledge level of HIV/AIDS among the army personnel was high, though misconceptions about transmission modes like getting HIV through the bites of mosquitoes and casual body contacts were noted, especially among those under 30 years of age. Key words: army personnel, age, HIV/AIDS, knowledge, risk related behaviour, Enugu

There is growing evidence that excess generation of highly reactive free radicals, largely due to hyperglycaemia causes oxidative stress, which further exacerbates the development and progression of type 2 diabetes and its complications. In this study, the level of oxidative stress was compared with glycaemic control in type 2 diabetic patients. Fifty confirmed type 2 diabetic patients, aged between 25 and 70 years were used for the study. 20 patients with good glycaemic control served as positive control while 20 apparently healthy non-diabetic age-matched individuals served as negative control. The FBS, MDA and HbA1 c were determined in fasting blood samples using standard methods. Patients with poor glycaemic control had significantly raised MDA and HbA1c (P =0.0001) when compared with non diabetics However, those with good glycaemic control only had a significant increase in the MDA when compared to non diabetic. (P =0.0001).).The MDA level when compared to fasting blood sugar (FBS) and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) showed a positive correlation.( r= 0.77; P = 0.0001 and r=0.69; P = 0.0001 respectively) This study showed that both glycaemic control and lipid peroxidation are factors to be monitored or evaluated in the management of type2 diabetics to avoid the development of diabetic complications.