Abstract

Therapeutic and immunomodulatory effects of raw maize �?�?�?�?�?�?�?�?ogi�?�?�?�?�?�?�?�? on rats infected with Escherichia coli 0157:H7

Author(s): Busuyi.Micheal Komolafe, Ayodele.O.Ogundare, Tinuola.Tokunbo Adebolu

Escherichia coli O157:H7 is known to cause food borne illness globally. Treatment of infections caused by this organism is difficult because the administration of antibiotics might precipitate kidney complications; therefore there is the need to search for alternative therapy. In this study, the therapeutic and immunomodulatory effects of raw maize “ogi” was investigated on rats infected with Escherichia coli 0157:H7. Infected rats treated withmaize “ogi” slurry 1.0ml once or twice daily and maize “ogi” liquor, 1.0ml twice daily recovered 72h while those that were treated with less than 1.0ml recovered by 96h. Without treatment with ‘ogi’ however, the rats started recovering by 120h. The treatment caused theWhite Blood Cells which had already gone up as a result of the infection to reduce significantly (P0.05) by 24h of administration of raw fermented maize ‘ogi’ components to the infected rats. It also caused a significant decrease in the lymphocyte counts of the infected and treated rats by 24h. On the other hand, there was an increase in the neutrophil count irrespective of the different volumes and different components of raw “ogi” used by 24h but by the 72h of treatment, it started to decrease and by 120h reduced to normal levels. Since the administration of rawmaize ‘ogi’ either slurry or liquor caused the duration of infection in rats infected with Escherichia coli 0157:H7 to reduce from 120h to 72h, it is therefore suggested that people having diarrhoea caused by this organism could drink fermented rawmaize “ogi” slurry or liquor to treat the infection.