Browsing by Author "Ogbonna, U. C."

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    Comparative analysis of the antibacterial effects of emilia sonchifolia (tassel flower) and selected antibiotics on ocular bacteria, in vitro
    (U. P., 2021) Ugwoke, G. I.; Ikoro, N. C.; Esenwah, E. C.; Azuamah, Y. C.; Megwas, A. U.; Nwakamma, G. I.; Ibe, C. N.; Ogbonna, U. C.; Umunnakwe, O. L.
    Developments of bacterial resistance to available antibiotics have necessitated the screening of medicinal plants for bioactive compounds which is gaining increasing popularity in the world. Emilia sonchifolia (Emilia s.) is a multipurpose plant that has exhibited antimicrobial effects against a wide range of microorganisms. The antibacterial activity of Emilia s. (tassel flower) extracts were compared with selected antibiotics against ocular bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Neisseria gonorrhoeae) in vitro using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Phytochemical screening of the plant in Ethanol, Methanol and Aqueous solvents showed the presence of Saponin, Tannin, Flavonoid, Phenol, Alkaloid, Steroid and Glycoside in all the extracts but Flavonoid was not present in the Aqueous extract. Bacteria used were isolated from the eyes of infected patients that visited the Federal University of Technology, Optometry Teaching Clinic and St Joseph’s Eye Hospital Mgbirichi all in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria and were identified and characterized macroscopically using standard laboratory methods. Diameter of zones of inhibition was measured for the different extracts of tassel flower and selected antibiotics. The data collected were tabulated and analyzed using Paired T-test and one-way ANOVA at 95% confidence interval and at a 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that aqueous, ethanol and methanol extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against the isolates with mean diameter of inhibition zone 13.33±2.89, 9.33±1.16 and 7.67±2.52 respectively. Their effect on the isolates was significant with p(0.01) <0.05 while that of the antibiotics were 12.00±3.46 for gentamicin, 17.00±10.58 for ofloxacin and 5.00±0.00 for erythromycin. A Comparison of the effects of Emilia s. and antibiotics on the bacterial isolates using one-way ANOVA showed the effects of Emilia s. does not differ significantly from the antibiotics as p(0.58) >0.05. This shows that Emilia sonchifolia could become a promising natural antibacterial agent with potential application in pharmaceutical industries for the production of plantbased ocular drugs.
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    Intraocular pressure changes in different degrees of myopia
    (U. P., 2020) Megwas, A. U.; Onuoha, S. U.; Ugwoke, G. I.; Okorie, M. E.; Ibe, C. N.; Azuamah, Y. C.; Daniel-Nwosu, E. I.; Nwawume, I. C.; Umunnakwe, L. O; Ogbonna, U. C.
    Myopia is a refractive condition of the eye in which the images of distant objects are focused in front of the retina when accommodation is relaxed. Intraocular pressure (IOP) is the pressure within the eyeball. This study was carried out to investigate the intraocular pressure changes in the different degrees of myopia. The study was a clinical study carried out at the Department of Optometry Teaching Clinic, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo state, Nigeria. Clinical tests performed on the subjects include case history, visual acuity, external eye examination, ophthalmoscopy, static retinoscopy and subjective refraction. The subjects with myopia were grouped into three according to the degree of myopia. Their intraocular pressure was measured using the indentation tonometry. A total of 50 subjects were used for this study. Twenty-five (50.00%) of the subjects had low myopia; 21 (42.00%) had medium myopia and 4 (8.00%) had high myopia. Results showed that for subjects with low myopia, those with IOP of 10 - 15 were 10 (20.00%); 16 -20, 13 (26.00%); 21 – 25, 2 (4.00%); 26 – 30, 0 (0.00%). For subjects with medium myopia, those with IOP of 10 - 15 were 11 (22.00%); 16 -20, 10 (20.00%); none of the subjects had IOP above 20mmHg. For subjects with high myopia, none had IOP of 10 – 15 and above 20 mmHg; 4 (8.00%) had IOP between 16 and 20 mmHg. The mean IOP values were 17.13±3.97, 16.63±3.09 and 20.15±1.29 mmHg for low, medium and high myopes respectively. SPSS data analysis using the one-way ANOVA at 0.05 level of significance showed that there was a significant difference (P<0.05) in the IOP values between the different degrees of myopia. Eye care practitioners were advised to closely monitor the IOP of their myopic patients.