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; t...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 with maize ＂ogi＂ slurry 1.0 mL once or twice daily and maize ＂ogi＂ liquor, 1.0 mL twice daily recovered 72 h while those that were treated with less than 1.0 mL recovered by 96 h. Without treatment with ＂ogi＂ however, the rats started recovering by 120 h. The treatment caused the white blood cells which had already gone up as a result of the infection to reduce significantly （P 〈 0.05） by 24 h 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 24 h. 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 24 h but by the 72 h of treatment, it started to decrease and by 120 h reduced to normal levels. Since the administration of raw maize ＂ogi＂ either slurry or liquor caused the duration of infection in rats infected with Escherichia coli 0157：H7 to reduce from 120 h to 72 h, it is therefore suggested that people having diarrhoea caused by this organism could drink fermented raw maize ＂ogi＂ slurry or liquor to treat the infection.展开更多
文摘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 with maize ＂ogi＂ slurry 1.0 mL once or twice daily and maize ＂ogi＂ liquor, 1.0 mL twice daily recovered 72 h while those that were treated with less than 1.0 mL recovered by 96 h. Without treatment with ＂ogi＂ however, the rats started recovering by 120 h. The treatment caused the white blood cells which had already gone up as a result of the infection to reduce significantly （P 〈 0.05） by 24 h 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 24 h. 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 24 h but by the 72 h of treatment, it started to decrease and by 120 h reduced to normal levels. Since the administration of raw maize ＂ogi＂ either slurry or liquor caused the duration of infection in rats infected with Escherichia coli 0157：H7 to reduce from 120 h to 72 h, it is therefore suggested that people having diarrhoea caused by this organism could drink fermented raw maize ＂ogi＂ slurry or liquor to treat the infection.
