[Role of traditional medicines in Africa]. / Place des médicaments traditionnels en Afrique.

Plants used for traditional medicines in Africa have been the focus of many chemical, pharmacological and toxicological studies. Based on a better understanding of these traditional plants, small private laboratories and pharmacists have been able to produce enhanced traditional medicines (ETM). These ETM have contributed to health of populations and reduced reliance on imported medicines.

[Anti-inflammatory activity of the bark of Khaya senegalensis (A Juss). Preliminary research of structure/activity relationship]. / Activité anti-inflammatoire des Ecorces de Khaya senegalensis (A Juss). Recherche préliminaire d'une relation structure/activité.

Some anti-inflammatory tests based on the carrageenan induced oedema rat paw method have been carried out with a freeze-dried aqueous extract and an etheropetrolic extract of Cailcedrat (Khaya senegalensis) barks. Then, a preliminary chemical study to find a relation structure/activity has been done from the etheropetrolic extract, by using various chromatography technicals. The achieved results have shown a decrease of the oedema by 14% when the aqueous extract is used at 1 g.kg-1, 21.5% and 62% with the etheropetrolic extract used at the respecive doses of 0.5 g.kg-1 and 1 g.kg-1. As for the chemical study, it allowed the separation of two compounds which probably take part in noticed activity and are supposed to be methyl angolensate and methyl hydroxyangolensate.

Mucronine J a 14-membered cyclopeptide alkaloid from Zizyphus mucronata.

From the CH2Cl2 extract of the root bark of Z. mucronata (Rhamnaceae), a new cyclopeptide alkaloid, named mucronine J, was isolated together with previously known alkaloids abyssenine A and mucronine D. The structure of mucronine J was elucided by mass spectrometry and 1D and 2D NMR. A solution conformation is proposed on the basis of NOE experiments in combination with MM2 calculations.

Structural and functional similarities of breadfruit seed lectin and jacalin.

Aquous extracts from seeds of Artocarpus altilis (breadfruit) and Artocarpus heterophyllus (jackfruit) were compared by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Two bands of the same size (12 and 15 kD) as the jacalin subunits were the major components in breadfruit seed extract. They strongly reacted with anti-jacalin antibodies by western blotting. The breadfruit lectin displayed the same IgAl and IgD precipitation specificity as jacalin in gel double diffusion experiments. It also stimulated in vitro proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These results suggest that lectins from both species of Artocarpus are very similar.

Anti-infectious phytotherapies of the tree-savannah of Senegal (West-Africa) II. Antimicrobial activity of 33 species.

The screening of the antimicrobial activity of 33 medicinal plants from Senegal is reported. None of these plants showed activity against the gram-negative test bacteria and against Candida albicans. Extracts of Cnestis ferruginea and Voacanga africana showed strong activity against Aspergillus niger. The former plant was also active against dermatophytes. Twenty-five of the plants tested showed activity against gram-positive bacteria.

[Antibacterial effect of borreverine, an alkaloid isolated from Borreria verticillata (Rubiaceae)]. / Action antibactérienne de la borrévérine, alcaloïde isolé de Borreria verticillata (Rubiacées).

Borreria verticillata, a very common tropical plant, is used in traditional pharmacopeia to recover cutaneous infections. The Borreverine alkaloid extracted from this plant had an antimicrobial action in vitro. The minimal inhibitory concentration is lower than 50 micrograms/ml for Gram positive cocci, (specially Staphylococcus aureus) and than 6 micrograms/ml for Vibrio cholerae and upper than 200 micrograms/ml for several Gram negative rod-bacteria (Enterobacteria and Pseudomonas). These preliminary results underline the interest in the research about the antimicrobial agents from plant origin, in particular concerning naturally or chemically modified alkaloids.

[Propionicacidemia. A report on two cases (author's transl)]. / Acidémie propionique. A propos de deux observations.

Two cases of propionicacidemia are reported. The first patient was a child aged 16 months with psychomotor retardation, severe disturbances of wakefulness, and vomiting; the second case concerned a new-born baby with metabolic acidosis and neurological disorders. In both cases the diagnosis of propionicacidemia was made after the discovery of ketonuria, and raised blood ammonia and glucose levels. Appropriate dietary measures led to great improvement in the first case, and nearly normal psychomotor development in the second case at 7 months of age. Problems related to biotin sensitivity, leucine intolerance, and raised blood ammonia levels are discussed.