ABSTRACT
Medicinal plants are the primary source of medicines and main ingredients used by traditional medicine practitioners. Byrsocarpus coccineus Schum and Thonn is one of such plants that have been used in Africa to treat different ailments including augmentation of labour. The aim of this study is to determine the acute toxicity and to screen the in vivo uterotonic effects of the ethylacetate leaf extract of Byrsocarpus coccineus in pregnant rat uterus. Leaves of the Byrsocarpus coccineus were collected, air dried, pounded and extracted using ethanol, ethylacetate, N-butanol and water. The extracts obtained were then used for the acute toxicity study, while the ethylacetate extract was used to assess the in vivo activity in pregnant rat uterus. Ethylacetate and aqueous leaf extracts Byrsocarpus coccineus was found to be relatively non toxic, whereas N-butanol was found to be toxic in rats and mice. Ethanol leaf extract was found to be only relatively toxic in mice. Ethylacetate leaf extract of Byrsocarpus coccineus potentiated the delivery of pregnant rats on days 21 of pregnancy. The results of the abortificient effect of the ethyl acetate extract on the pregnant rats showed no significant difference between the treatment groups compared with the control (p>0.05). There was a significant increase in haemoglobin, white blood cell, platelets and aspartate aminotransferase (p<0.05). Ethylacetate leaf extract of Byrsocarpus coccineus is relatively safe and was found to potentiate the delivery of pregnant rats with no significant change in hepatic and renal functions and this supports the traditional use of this plant to induce labour at terms.
ABSTRACT
Cassia alata Linn is an important medicinal plant as well as ornamental flowering plant. The leaf decoction of Cassia alata has been used to treat infectious diseases in north eastern Nigeria. This study was embarked upon so as to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Cassia alata in the management of fungal infectious diseases. The leaves of the plant were collected, dried and extracted using water and 95% ethanol. The extracts were used for evaluating antifungal activity against five clinical isolates of pathogenic fungi. The result of this study showed a dose dependent antifungal activity of both aqueous and ethanolic leaf extracts on the five selected clinical isolates of pathogenic fungi. The extracts inhibited the growth of Candida albicans, Microsporum canis and Trichophyton mentagrophyte better than the ketoconazole 200 mg used as a positive control (p<0.05). The minimum inhibitory concentration of the water leaf extract of Cassia alata for Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium notatum, Microsporium canis and Trichophyton mentagrophytes were 26.90 mg, 32.40 mg, 29.50 mg, 30.30 mg and 27.80 mg respectively, while that of ethanol leaf extract of Cassia alata for Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium notatum, Microsporium canis and Trichophyton mentagrophytes were 5.60 mg, 3.50 mg, 4.90 mg, 12.60 mg and 9.80 mg respectively. Cassia alata has been found to exhibit a greater antifungal activity against some human pathogenic fungi in this study and this has justified the traditional use of this plant in managing fungal diseases.
ABSTRACT
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in children; especially in those with sickle cell disease; who are at higher risk of infections. It will be useful to have a simple test which can be used in resource limited health facilities as a means of screening such children for UTI with the view to instituting prompt treatment. This study is carried out to determine the usefulness of significant pyuria in detecting UTI in febrile children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA). Two hundred and fifty febrile children with sickle cell anaemia that attended State Specialist Hospital and University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) were prospectively studied with their consent. Urine sample was collected using standard procedure; examined for pus cells and was cultured at the Microbiology laboratory of UMTH. The study showed UTI prevalence of 26. Significant pyuria was found to have sensitivity of 55.4; specificity of 77.8; the efficacy of the test was 72.0and the test has low positive predictive value of 46.8in detecting bacteriuria in SCA patients. The significant pyuria observed in this study support its usefulness in the diagnosis of UTI among children with SCA especially in communities having limited facilities or personnel for carrying out urine culture
Subject(s)
Anemia, Sickle Cell , Child , Nigeria , Pyuria , Urinary Tract InfectionsABSTRACT
Azadirachta indica is a very useful traditional medicinal plant in the sub-continent and each part of the tree has some medicinal properties. The plant is native to Asia, but has now naturalized in West Africa and is widely cultivated in Nigeria as an ornamental as well as medicinal plant. This study aimed at screening the active components and the antibacterial effects of the ethanolic leaf extract of Azadirachta indica. Fresh leaves of the plant were collected, dried, homogenized and extracted using 95% Ethanol. The extract was used for the phytochemical screening and bacterial susceptibility testing using cup-plate method.The result obtained from this study showed the presence of tannins, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, reducing sugars and terpenes in the ethanolic leaf extract. The antibacterial effect produced by the extract was dose-dependent at the tested doses (6.25 mg, 12.5 mg, 25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg) on Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Salmonella typhi (S. typhi). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for E. coli, S. aureus and S. typhi were 2.39 mg, 3.31 mg and 4.79 mg respectively. The effect produced by the ethanolic leaf extract at 100mg (18 mm) was statistically significantly higher than that of 1.5 mg ciprofloxacin (14 mm) on S. typhi (p<0.05). Azadirachta indica ethanolic leaf extract contains pharmacologically active constituents that may be responsible for its activity against S. aureus, E. coli and S. typhi. Therefore, the use of Neem plant in our community for treating diverse medical ailments especially infectious diseases is highly justified.