Antimalarial activity of the aqueous extract of Euphorbia cordifolia Elliot in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice

Objective: To evaluate the antimalarial activity of the aqueous extract of Euphorbia (E.) cordifolia Elliot against Plasmodium (P.) berghei-infected mice. Methods: Thirty healthy Swiss mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with 200 μL of P. berghei parasitized-erythrocytes and divided into five groups, and then daily treated for 5 d with single dose of 10 mL/kg of distilled water for malaria control, 10 mg/kg of chloroquine for the chloroquine control and 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of the aqueous extract of E. cordifolia for the three test groups. Parasitaemia was monitored by Giemsa-staining. At the end of the treatment, animals were sacrificed, and blood was collected for haematological and biochemical analyses. Organs were collected for biochemical and histopathological analyses. Statistical significance (P<0.05) was evaluated by analysis of variance followed by the Tukey post-test using Graphpad prism 7.0. Results: E. cordifolia extract decreased the parasite load to 2.46%, with an effective dose (ED

In vitro antimycobacterial activity of six Cameroonian medicinal plants using microplate alamarBlue assay

Objective/background: The latest incidence of tuberculosis [TB] [per 100,000 people] in Cameroon was 243.00 as of 2011. Over the past 21 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 112.00 in 1990 and 320.00 in 2003. Worldwide, this incidence has also increased, bringing back TB as a reemerging disease. On the same note, resistance to anti-TB drugs has increased, urging the search for new molecules

Methods: This study was carried out to evaluate the antimycobacterial activity of six medicinal plants on the virulent strain, H37Rv, using the microplate alamarBlue assay. Mycobacterium tuberculosis [H37Rv strain] was incubated with decreased concentrations of six plant extracts, ranging from 250 microg/mL to 31.25 microg/mL. After 7 days of incubation at 37 degree C, the effects of these plant extracts on the viability of the mycobacteria were evaluated. For each plant extract, the minimal inhibitory concentration was determined

Results: The results showed that the compounds MBC1, MBC24, MBC68, MBC81, MBC117, and MBC118 were the best candidates with minimal inhibitory concentrations of 31.25, 62.5, 125, 62.5, and 125 microg/mL, respectively

Conclusion: These results confirm and validate the traditional use of these plants to treat respiratory diseases, which could be good sources and alternatives of plant metabolites for anti-TB-drug development