Olusola Ojurongbe

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology · Department of Medical Microbiology and Pathology

Objective Schistosomiasis remains a chronic disease of global importance, especially in many rural areas of the world where co-infection with Plasmodium falciparum is common. It is critical to decipher the role of single or co-infected disease scenarios on immune system regulation in such individuals and how such co-infections can either ameliorate...

Background: Foodborne diseases are a significant public health issue globally, with approximately 30% of the population in developed countries suffering from diarrheal diseases caused mainly by foodborne microbial pathogens. In developing countries, food handlers, including meat sellers, are the primary determinants of food contamination due to poo...

Background: Type 2 diabetes is often undiagnosed until complications arise, which highlights the importance of health checkups. However, certain populations exhibit low adherence to these checkups, largely due to differences in socioeconomic constraints, financial capacity, and variations in self-care and routine medical habits. Given these circums...

Background: Type 2 diabetes is commonly diagnosed at a later stage due to low attendance to health examinations, especially among certain demographic groups with financial constraints, differences in self-care routines, and medical habits. Given these circumstances, the need to develop reliable predictive tools for type 2 diabetes is becoming incre...

Introduction: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a major pathogen implicated in healthcare-associated infections. Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae isolates are a public health concern. This study investigated the existence of some ESBL and carbapenemase genes among clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae in Southwest...

Background Current malaria diagnosis methods that rely on microscopy and Histidine Rich Protein2 (HRP2)-based rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) have drawbacks that necessitate the development of improved and complementary malaria diagnostic methods to overcome some or all of these limitations. Consequently, the automated detection and classification of...

This study investigated the genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum among asymptomatic pregnant women on intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-Sp) in Osogbo, southwest Nigeria. Blood sample was obtained from consenting pregnant women attending antenatal clinics. Microscopy and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were...

Background: The current malaria diagnosis methods, which rely on microscopy and Histidine Rich Protein2 (HRP2) based RDT, have drawbacks that necessitate the development of improved and complementary malaria diagnostic methods to overcome some or all the limitations. Consequently, automated detection and classification of malaria can provide patien...

Background of study: Extensive genetic diversity and distribution of allelic frequencies in P. falciparum isolates is an indication for high malaria transmission. Therefore, Malaria control and elimination strategies may require geographic evaluation of the population genetic profile of Plasmodium falciparum to guide malaria interventions. The gene...

Background: Microscopic evaluation of parasite clearance is the gold standard in antimalarial drug efficacy trials. However, the presence of sub-microscopic residual parasitemia after artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) needs to be investigated. Methods: One hundred and twenty (AL: n = 60, PA: n = 60) days 3 and 14 dried blood spots, neg...

Background Malaria transmission and endemicity in Africa remains hugely disproportionate compared to the rest of the world. The complex life cycle of P. falciparum ( Pf ) between the vertebrate human host and the anopheline vector results in differential expression of genes within and between hosts. An in-depth understanding of Pf interaction with...

Background Malaria and helminthic parasites are endemic in tropical countries, and co-infections might influence host-parasite interactions. In this community-based cross-sectional study, the effect that the presence of soil-transmitted helminths (STH) (Hookworm, Hymenolepis nana) and Schistosoma haematobium infections could have on the immunoglobu...

Background and objectives: This study reports knowledge of residents of Alabameta community, Osun State, Nigeria on the bioecology and socio-economic burden of black flies and onchocerciasis. Methods: Using structured questionnaires and Focus Group Discussion (FGD), a total of 150 community respondents participated in the study. Results: The k...

Introduction: The genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum poses a threat to the development and implementation of malaria control strategies. Thus, there is a need for continuous surveillance of its genetic diversity, especially amongst the parasite's reservoir's asymptomatic population. Methodology: Three cohorts comprising children under te...

Background The occurrence of artemisinin resistance (ART)-associated polymorphism of Plasmodium falciparum K13-propeller ( pfk13 ) gene before and after the introduction of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in two regions of Nigeria was investigated in this study. Regular surveillance is necessary to make a definite conclusion on the emer...

Background The risk of co-infection with Schistosoma haematobium and S . mansoni and the potential harmful effect on morbidity and control is enhanced by the overlapping distribution of both species in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the reported high endemicity of both species in Nigeria, studies on the spread and effect of their mixed infection are l...

A longitudinal study was carried out to investigate species composition, seasonal abundance, parity and transmission potential of Simulium damnosum complex in Alabameta community in Osun State, Southwestern, Nigeria. Adult Simulium damnosum complex were collected along Owena River, Alabameta, by two dark complexioned vector collectors from 07:00hr...

Background: Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) are the preferred option for programmatic deployment. Aims: There are numerous mRDTs on the Nigerian market and there is a need to guide practitioners on the relative performance of the commonly used brands of mRDT in Nigeria. Subjects and methods: The performance of three commonly used Histid...

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is an emerging infection that is of major public health concern, especially in some vulnerable groups like immunosuppressed individuals, pregnant women and HBV-coinfected individuals. HEV is transmitted faecal/oral or zoonotically depending on the HEV-genotype. This study aimed at investigating HEV infections among...

PurposePlasmodium ovale is not usually the focus of most malaria research or intervention programmes and has lately been termed the neglected human malaria parasites. The parasite exists as two genetically distinct sympatric species namely P. ovale curtisi and P. ovale wallikeri but information on the distribution of P. ovale sub-species is lacking...

Strongyloides stercoralis is endemic in tropical and subtropical regions and hyper-infection and dissemination could occur in immunocompromised patients. Regular parasitic assessment of HIV patients is needed to prevent disseminated S. stercoralis infection. This study therefore determined the prevalence of S. stercoralis among HIV individuals in O...

Background: Urinary schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and remains a major public health problem among school-aged pupils in tropical and subtropical countries. Objective: This study assessed the current status of the urinary schistosomiasis among school children in a rural community, Southwestern Nigeri...

Background: Plasmodium falciparum parasites are known to exhibit extensive genetic diversity in areas of high transmission intensity and infected individuals in such communities often harbour several complex mixtures of parasite clones with different genetic characteristics. However, in the micro-environment, the extent of genetic diversity of P....

Objective: The study was designed to investigate the anti-nociceptive activity of Euphorbia hirta leaf and its possible mechanism of action. Methods: The extract of Euphorbia hirta obtained from the leaf was prepared as per standard procedures and evaluated at the three doses (300, 600, and 1200 mg/kg, i.p). The extract was screened for anti-nocic...

Intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy with sulphadoxine−pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) is one of the main strategies for protecting pregnant women, fetus, and their new-born against adverse effects of P. falciparum infection. The development of the drug resistance linked to mutations in P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase gene (pfdhfr) and P. f...

Objective The study was designed to investigate the anti-nociceptive activity of Euphorbia hirta leaf and its possible mechanism of action. Methods The extract of Euphorbia hirta obtained from the leaf was prepared as per standard procedures and evaluated at the three doses (300, 600, and 1200 mg/kg, i.p). The extract was screened for anti-nocicep...

Background Drug repositioning is becoming popular due to the development of resistance to almost all the recommended antimalarials. Pregabalin and gabapentin are chemical analogs of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) approved for the treatment of epilepsy and neuropathic pain. Objective This study investigates acute toxicities and antimalarial activit...

Background: Plasmodium falciparum parasites are known to exhibit extensive genetic diversity in areas of high transmission intensity and infected individuals in such communities often harbour several complex mixture of parasite clones with different genetic characteristics. However, in the microenvironment, the extent of genetic diversity of the P....

Background Plasmodium falciparum parasites are known to exhibit extensive genetic diversity in areas of high transmission intensity and infected individuals in such communities often harbour several complex mixtures of parasite clones with different genetic characteristics. However, in the micro-environment, the extent of genetic diversity of P. fa...

Since Decem ber 2019, a novel Cor onavir us nam ed Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been implicated in an outbreak of SARSlike illness, which began in a wild animal market of Wuhan in Hubei province of China and the World Health Organization (WHO) was alerted on the 31st December 2019 of this public health threat. On...

Malaria remains a significant disease, causing epic health problems and challenges all over the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. CD209 and CD28 genes act as co-stimulators and regulators of the immune system, while the STAT6 gene has been reported to mediate cytokine-induced responses. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of these genes might le...

Immune response to infections has been shown to be mediated by genetic diversity in pattern recognition receptors, leading to disease tolerance or susceptibility. We elucidated naturally occurring variations within the bovine CD14 gene promoter in trypanosome-tolerant (N’Dama) and susceptible (White Fulani) cattle, with genomic and computational ap...

Background: A reversal of chloroquine (CQ) resistance following a period of withdrawal has raised the possibility of its re-introduction. This study evaluated the current prevalence of Pfcrt and Pfmdr1 alleles in Plasmodium falciparum isolates, 11 years after CQ withdrawal in Southeast Nigeria. Methods: Filter-paper blood samples were collected...

Objectives: To investigate the consequence of restricting antimalarial treatment to febrile children that test positive to a malaria rapid diagnostic test (MRDT) only in an area of intense malaria transmission. Methods: Febrile children aged 3-59 months were screened with an MRDT at health facilities in south-west Nigeria. MRDT-positive children...

Variable immune response to external stimuli remains a major concern in sickle cell disease (SCD), with such responses predicted to be contributors to disease pathogenesis. Elucidating the diversity of host genes contributing to immune response would assist to clarify differing outcomes among and between disease groups. We hypothesize that there is...

Prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment of malaria remain the hallmark for reducing malaria-related mortality in high transmission areas. Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein2 (PfHRP2) based rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) play a vital role in prompt and accurate malaria diagnosis. However, pfhrp2 gene deletion threatens the RDT test sensit...

Background Prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment remain the hallmark needed to reduce malaria-related mortality in areas of high transmission. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) that target the Pfhrp-2 gene, are essential in resource-limited settings where microscopy is not available. However, Pfhrp-2 gene deletion is implicated in limiting RDT sen...

Abstract Introduction: In Nigeria, microscopy and Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) are majorly used routinely to diagnose malaria in clinical settings. In recent years, molecular diagnosis has emerged as the most sensitive method for malaria diagnosis. This study determined the usefulness of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in comparison to microscopy...

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic, multifactorial disease caused by genetic, dietary and environmental interactions with alterations in the pattern of cytokine expression. Association between interleukin (IL)-10 polymorphism and T2DM is not known in Black Af-ricans. This study therefore investigates the relationship betwe...

Malaria remains a very significant disease, with high rates of morbidity and mortality, contributing to economic inequities in endemic countries. The parasite is widely distributed with extensive genetic polymorphisms, increasing rates of drug resistance and lack of an effective vaccine. Dysregulated immune response, especially focused on signaling...

A major hallmark of infectious diseases is inflammation, particularly significant in endemic countries, where low levels of antigenic stimulation that is insufficient to cause disease are significant contributors to chronic inflammation, disrupting immunological balance. Interleukin (IL)‐10 is a cytokine produced by many cell types, stimulating the...

Malaria is still a disease that causes untold human death and suffering in many parts of the world. Despite the fact that the parasite genome has been sequenced, much remain to be deciphered, especially on factors that exacerbates or limit susceptibility to infection. We hypothesize that host genetics factors, with particular focus on genetic polym...

Background: Plasmodium falciparum and soil transmitted helminth (STHs) infection are widespread in sub-Sahara Africa, where co-infection is also common. This study assessed the prevalence of these infections and their risk factors among pregnant women in Osogbo, Nigeria. Methods: A total of 200 pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic were...

Schistosomiasis is endemic in many parts of rural Africa, with previous reports showing interleukin-13 polymorphisms as drivers of infectivity and disease severity in West Africa while IL-13/IL-4 polymorphisms contributes to patterns of reinfection in East Africa. We have shown that there is a genetic delineation in susceptibility to and severity o...

Introduction Enteric parasitic infections have been increasingly recognized as etiology of life-threatening chronic diarrhea in PLWHA in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated the prevalence and burden of intestinal parasitic infection among PLWHA in Abeokuta, southwest Nigeria. Methods Freshly passed stool samples were collected from PLWHA....

Significant morbidity and mortality among children remain the most consequential outcome of malaria infection in sub‐Saharan Africa, with host genetic variants reported to modulate infectivity and regulation of disease markers. Effector T cells are essential for a proper immune response, such responses ameliorated by regulatory T cells, which are e...

Published reports suggests a major role for signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT6) polymorphisms in driving susceptibility and response to several diseases, including urinary schistosomiasis, showing an association with disease burden. We have shown previously that Th2 cytokine genes (IL‐4, IL‐10 and IL‐13) are differentially regu...

The genetic diversity of glutamate-rich protein (GLURP) R2 region in Plasmodium falciparum isolates collected before and 12 years after the introduction of artemisinin combination treatment of malaria in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria, was compared in this study. Blood samples were collected on filter paper in 2004 and 2015 from febrile children from...

This study assesses the prevalence of asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia positivity and P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase (pfdhfr) mutations in parasite isolates among pregnant women in Southwest Nigeria. Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia was confirmed by microscopy and nested PCR in 200 pregnant women attending antenatal care. The...

Background: Nigeria carries a high burden of malaria which makes continuous surveillance for current information on genetic diversity imperative. In this study, the merozoite surface proteins (msp-1, msp-2) and glutamate-rich protein (glurp) of Plasmodium falciparum collected from two communities representing rural and urban settings in Ibadan, so...

Objective: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an anti-inflammatory cytokine produced by Th1 cells and macrophages. The rationale of this study was to examine and validate possible contributions of IL-10 promoter polymorphisms in sub-Saharan Africa in children infected with either Plasmodium falciparum or Schistosoma haematobium and in children co-infected...

Susceptibility to malaria infection has been associated with host genetic polymorphisms that differs between groups. We hypothesize that Toll-interacting proteins (TOLLIP), vitamin D receptor (VDR) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) genes are significant contributors to susceptibility and disease severity in Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) infection. Our...

This work explores the antiplasmodial potential of ethanol extract of Blighia sapida (Lin. Sapindaceae) in chloroquine (CQ)-resistant Plasmodium berghei (ANKA strain)–infected mice. Chloroquine-resistant (ANKA) strain of P berghei was inoculated intraperitoneally into Swiss albino mice. Mice were treated orally for 4 consecutive days, before and af...

CD14 is a multifunctional receptor expressed on many cell types and has been shown to mediate immune response resulting in the activation of an inflammatory cascade, with polymorphism of its promoter (rs2569190) found to be associated with susceptibility to several diseases. In malaria infection, the CD14 gene demonstrated a pathogenic profile in r...

CD14 is a multifunctional receptor expressed on many cell types, and has been shown to mediate immune response resulting in the activation of an inflammatory cascade. Genetic polymorphisms of the CD14 promoter (rs2569190) has been found to be associated with susceptibility to several diseases. In malaria infection, CD14 gene demonstrates a pathogen...

Production of extended-spectrum β -lactamases (ESBLs) producing E. coli in animals and different methods of identifications from Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria, were investigated. Three hundred and fifty fecal samples, collected from apparently healthy cattle and pigs, were cultured and identified following standard procedures. ESBL phenotypic det...

Occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI) characterized by the absence of detectable HBsAg remains a potential threat in blood safety. We investigated the actual prevalence, viral factors and genotype of OBI infections in Nigerian blood donors. Serum collected from two blood banks were reconfirmed as HBsAg seronegative by ELISA. Forty HBsAg positive...

Malaria and intestinal helminths co-infection are major public health problems particularly among school age children in Nigeria. However the magnitude and possible interactions of these infections remain poorly understood. This study determined the prevalence, impact and possible interaction of Plasmodium falciparum and intestinal helminths co-inf...

The rising problem of resistance to most commonly used antimalarials remains a major challenge in the control of malaria suggesting the need for new antimalarial agents. This work explores the antiplasmodial potential of ethanol extract of Russelia equisetiformis in chloroquine Plasmodium berghei infected mice. Swiss albino mice were intraperitonea...

The human mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and ficolins (FCN) are involved in pathogen recognition in the first line of defense. They support activation of the complement lectin cascade in the presence of MBL-associated serine protease 2 (MASP-2), a protein that cleaves the C4 and C2 complement components. Recent studies found that distinct MBL2 and FC...

The occurrence of Trichomonas vaginalis in five randomly selected public and private hospitals in Ilorin metropolis using Microscopy and Culture was evaluated. The total number of 250 High vaginal swab and urine were collected from pregnant women. Wet preparation method was carried on slide for the High vaginal swab and swabs negative for Trichomon...

Loiasis is currently receiving attention as a disease of public health importance because of the possibility of increased risk of developing neurologic serious adverse event following mass ivermectin treatment against onchocerciasis in individual co-infected with Onchocerca volvulus and Loa loa. Rapid assessment procedure for loiasis (RAPLOA) was c...

High transmission rate and drug resistance have been implicated in the spread and re-emergence of malaria in areas where the disease had been eradicated. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of falciparum malaria and pre-disposing factors to malaria among patients presenting with fever in selected State Hospitals in Ogun Stat...