Assessment of Some Biochemical Parameters among Chronic Consumers of Alligator Pepper (Afromomu meligueta) in Amassoma Bayelsa State Nigeria

Abstract

Alligator pepper is a spice that belongs to the family Zingibreaceae and is used for the treatment of infectious disease such as urinary tract infection caused by Echerichia coli. This study was aimed on the assessment of some biochemical parameters among chronic consumers of alligator pepper (Afromomu meligueta) in Amassoma, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Sixty apparently healthy participants within the ages of 35-53 years were randomly selected for this study and subsequently categorized into three groups: experimental group one < 2 years consumers of alligator pepper (20 participants), experimental group two, 2-10 years consumers of alligator pepper (20 participants) and control group, non-consumers of alligator pepper (20 participants). Thereafter, 5ml of blood specimens was withdrawn from each of the participants into lithium heparin anti- coagulated bottles respectively via venipuncture technique and spun for 2,500 revolution/minute using 800 D macro centrifuge. The obtained plasma was subsequently used for the measurement of the following biochemical parameters: alanine aminotransferase (colorimetric method), aspartate aminotransferase (colorimetric method), C-reactive protein (latex turbidimetry method), interleukin-6 (elascience method), urea (urease berthelot method), creatinine (Jaffe reaction method), troponin-1 (immune turbidimetry method) and creatinineKinase-MB (immune inhibition method) using SPSS 23.0 version as statistical package. The participants’ data in experimental group one showed no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) in the mean values of all the measured biochemical parameters as compared to that of the control group while that of the experimental group two showed statistically significant elevations (p = 0.02) in the mean value of alanine aminotransferase (17.21 ± 0.96) and (p = 0.02) in the mean value of aspartate aminotransferase (15.10 ± 0.86) as compared to the control group: alanine aminotransferase (8.20 ± 0.31) and aspartate am

Keywords

References