BIO-CHEMISTRY PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS

Enzymes are large biological molecules responsible for thousands of chemical inter-conversions that sustain life (Smith, 1997). All known enzymes are proteins. They are high molecular weight compounds made up principally of chains of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds, they are denatured at high temperature and precipitated with salts, solvents and other reagents. They have molecular weights ranging from 10,000 to 2,000,000 units. Enzymes do not cause reactions to take place, but rather they enhance the rate of reactions that would have been slower without their presence and still remains unused and unchanged.

Calcium is the most important mineral in the body. The body needs calcium for normal functioning of nerves and muscles including the most important muscles of all which is the heart. Calcium is also important for healthy bones and teeth. The amount of calcium in the blood is carefully controlled by the body’s hormonal systems.

Piper methysticum being a plant used for its medical and social purposes (Johnston et al, 2008), may have been of great benefits in human health due to its biochemical, pharmacological, and medical properties. This study, therefore, was undertaken to evaluate the trace – element composition of the leaf extract..

The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the leaves of Thymus vulgaris (thyme) and the seeds of Myristica fragrans (nutmeg) were screened for their antibacterial activity and phytochemical constituents. The standard methods used to detect the phytochemicals present in the extracts revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, triterpenoids and phytosterols in all the extracts while steroids and amino acids were absent. The antibacterial evaluation of the spice extracts using agar plate-well diffusion and nutrient broth dilution techniques showed thatthere was no significant difference in the activity of the spice extracts (p > 0.05) against the test organisms (Streptococcus pneumoniaeand Pseudomonas aeruginosa, clinical bacterial isolates).

This study investigated the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutothione peroxidase (GP) and the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the root of sorghum grown in soils contaminated with 30ppm nickel, 30ppm nickel +20ppm fertilizer and 30ppm nickel + 40ppm fertilizer. Sixty sorghum seeds were germinated in these contaminated soils and were harvested after 2 weeks, 3 weeks, and 4 weeks of planting. Treatment of the plants with 30ppm nickel significantly increased (P < 0.05) the activities of SOD and the level of MDA in the roots compared with the controls. Also, the treatment significantly decreased (P < 0.05) the activities of CAT and GP in the roots compared with controls.

Plants are important in our everyday existence. They provide our foods, produce the oxygen we breathe, and serve as raw materials for many industrial products such as clothes, foot wears and so many others (Ajibesin, 2011). The plant kingdom has proven to be the most useful in the treatment of diseases and they provide an important source in all the world pharmaceuticals. The most important of these bioactive constituents of plants are steroids, terpenoids, carotenoids, flavanoids, alkaloids, tannins and glycosides. Plants in all face of life have served a valuable starting material for drug development (Ajibesin, 2011).

It has been reported in several organisms ranging from humans to rats, fishes and insects. It is a mitochondrial enzyme which has been concerned in the detoxification of cyanide, a potent toxin of the mitochondrial respiratory chain (Nelson et al., 2000). Among the several metabolic enzymes that carry out xenobiotic detoxification, 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase is of utmost importance.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer. It accounts for 60% of all cancer world wide (Melissa 2004). The most significance cause is the presence of cirrhosis. HCC has unique geographic sex, age distribution that are likely determined by specific actiology factor. It’s distribution also varies among ethnic group within the same country (Munoz 1989). A high incidence of hepatitis B and C may have been an important factor contributing to the development of liver disease (HCC and Cirrhosis) in south eastern Nigeria. However, a recent trend which reveals an increase in cases of liver cirrhosis and hepatitis in our environment suggest that there could be other contributory factors perculiar to our environment besides hepatitis B and C which could be possible explanation to the recent trend.

Nanoscience has been the subject of substantial research in recent years. It has been explored by researchers in various fields of science and technology (Kholoud et al. 2010). The novel properties of NPs have been exploited in a wide range of potential applications such as in medicine, cosmetics, renewable energies, environmental remediation, biomedical devices (Quang Huy, 2013), electronics, optics, organic catalysis, vector control, sensor, etc., have drawn extensive attention to this field of study (Mousavand et al. 2007). Among the metals, silver nanoparticles have shown potential applications in various fields such as the environment, bio-medicine, catalysis, optics and electronics (Rao et al., 2000). Silver nanoparticles are mostly smaller than 100 nm and consist about 20–15,000 silver atoms. In its nanoscale form, silver exhibits unique physicochemical and biological activities. This has made them useful as sensor, vector control, antimicrobial, anticancer, and antiplasmodial agents, catalysts, among others (Elemike et al. 2014; Vinod et al. 2014; Kathiravan et al. 2014; Saraschandra and Sivakumar 2014; Namita and Soam 2014).

In traditional setting, Alstoniaboonei is used for the treatment of different ailments, this has been attributed to its rich phytochemical and antioxidant properties.The objective of the study was to evaluate the phytochemical properties and antioxidant activity of the methanol, ethanol and hexane extracts of Alstoniaboonei leaves. Qualitative analysis of phytochemical constituents such as tannins, saponins, cardiac glycosides flavonoids and phenols were carried out. Quantitative analysis of total phenolics, saponins and flavonoids was performed by well-known test protocol. Antioxidant activity reveals the presence of reactive oxygen species which helps to scavenge free radicals that are present in the body.