Potentials of leaves of Aspilia africana (Compositae) in wound care: an experimental evaluation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The potentials of the leaves of the haemorrhage plant, <it>Aspilia africana </it>C. D Adams (Compositae) in wound care was evaluated using experimental models. <it>A. africana</it>, which is widespread in Africa, is used in traditional medicine to stop bleeding from wounds, clean the surfaces of sores, in the treatment of rheumatic pains, bee and scorpion stings and for removal of opacities and foreign bodies from the eyes. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the potentials for use of leaves of this plant in wound care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The effect of the methanol extract (ME) and the hexane (HF) and methanol (MF) fractions (obtained by cold maceration and graded solvent extraction respectively) on bleeding/clotting time of fresh experimentally-induced wounds in rats, coagulation time of whole rat blood, growth of microbial wound contaminants and rate of healing of experimentally-induced wounds in rats were studied as well as the acute toxicity and lethality (LD₅₀) of the methanol extract and phytochemical analysis of the extract and fractions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The extract and fractions significantly (<it>P </it>< 0.05) reduced bleeding/clotting time in rats and decreased coagulation time of whole rat blood in order of magnitude of effect: MF>ME>HF. Also, the extract and fractions caused varying degrees of inhibition of the growth of clinical isolates of <it>Pseudomonas fluorescens </it>and <it>Staphylococcus aureus</it>, as well as typed strains of <it>Ps. aeruginosa </it>(ATCC 10145) and <it>Staph. aureus </it>(ATCC 12600), and reduced epithelialisation period of wounds experimentally-induced in rats. Acute toxicity and lethality (LD₅₀) test in mice established an i.p LD₅₀of 894 mg/kg for the methanol extract (ME). Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, resins, sterols, terpenoids and carbohydrates.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The leaves of <it>A. africana </it>possess constituents capable of arresting wound bleeding, inhibiting the growth of microbial wound contaminants and accelerating wound healing which suggest good potentials for use in wound care.</p

Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of methanol extract, fractions and compounds from the stem bark of Entada abyssinica Stend ex A. Satabie

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the methanol extract, fractions and isolated compounds from <it>Entada abyssinica </it>stem bark, plant used traditionally against gastrointestinal infections.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The methanol extract of <it>E. abyssinica </it>stem bark was pre-dissolved in a mixture of methanol and water, and then partitioned between <it>n</it>-hexane, ethyl acetate and <it>n</it>-butanol. The ethyl acetate portion was fractionated by column chromatography and the structures of isolated compounds elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic data and comparison with literature data. Antimicrobial activity was assayed by broth microdilution techniques on bacteria and yeasts. The antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH radical scavenging method.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Four known compounds [(5<it>S</it>,6<it>R</it>,8a<it>R</it>)-5-(carboxymethyl)-3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-5,6,8a-trimethylnaphthalenecarboxylic acid (<b>1</b>), methyl 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate (<b>2</b>), benzene-1,2,3-triol (<b>3</b>) and 2,3-dihydroxypropyltriacontanoate (<b>4</b>)] were isolated. Compared to the methanol extract, fractionation increased the antibacterial activities of the <it>n</it>-hexane and ethyl acetate fractions, while the antifungal activities increased in ethyl acetate, <it>n</it>-butanol and aqueous residue fractions. The isolated compounds were generally more active on bacteria (9.7 to 156.2 μg/ml) than yeasts (78.1 to 312.5 μg/ml). Apart from compound <b>1</b>, the three others displayed DPPH^·scavenging activity (RSa), with RSa₅₀values of 1.45 and 1.60 μg/ml.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results obtained from this study support the ethnomedicinal use of <it>E. abyssinica </it>in the treatment of gastrointestinal infections and the isolated compounds could be useful in the standardisation of antimicrobial phytomedicine from this plant.</p

Antidermatophytic activities of nine (9) essential oils

The antidermatophytic activity of nine essential oils from 7 plants against 6 fungi was investigated. Fungistatic effect was observed for the oil of Coreopsis bonariensis (2 mg/ml), Laggera alata var alata (1 mg/ml) against Microsporum audouinii and for Cupressus lusitanica oil against Trichophyton mentagrophytes (2 mg/ml). Fungicidal effect was observed for the C. lusitanica (leaves) oil (2 mg/ml) against Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Erigeron floribundus (leaves) oil (1 mg/ml) against Candida albicans and for oil of the flowering ends of C. lusitanica against Trichophyton mentagrophytes at 1 mg/ml. Finally, the essential oils of C. lusitanica were found to be the most active while M. audouinii was the least resistant fungus.Keywords: antidermatophytic, essential oils East and Central African Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vol. 7 2004: 6-

Effect of diets supplemented with garlic essential oil and streptomycin sulphate on intestinal microflore and nutrients digestibility of broilers

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ANTIDIARRHOEAL AND IN VITRO ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF LEAVES EXTRACTS OF HIBISCUS ASPER. HOOK. F. (MALVACEAE).

Objective: To evaluate the antidiarrhoeal and antibacterial activities of aqueous and methanolic leaves extracts of Hibiscus asper.Materials and Methods: The effect of aqueous and methanolic extracts of Hibiscus asper was assessing on the in vitro growth of 06 reference bacteria strains and 02 clinical isolates by determining the minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations, using broth microdilution method as well as on the Shigella flexneri induced infectious diarrhoea, castor oil induced secretory diarrhoea and magnesium sulphate induced osmotic diarrhoea models in rats.Results: The methanolic extract was the most active, it inhibited the in vitro growth of 05 reference Gram (-) bacteria strains (Escherichia coli ATCC 11775, Escherichia coli ATCC 8789, Escherichia coli ATCC 10536, Enterobacter aerogenes ATCC 13048 and Salmonella typhi ATCC 6539) and one clinical isolate (Shigella flexneri). The MICs values were between 512 and 1024 μg/ml.  In vivo, methanolic and aqueous extracts, administered at the same dose (500 mg/kg) caused a significant decrease (p&lt;0.05) in the bacteria load in the faeces of rats, 08 and 12 days of treatment respectively. The methanolic extract was the most active, it reduced bacteria load within a shorter duration of treatment (08 days). The results of this study indicate that the methanolic and aqueous extracts of leaves of Hibiscus asper after 06 hours of observation, significantly inhibited (p&lt;0.05; p&lt;0.001) in vivo, diarrhoea induced experimentally by castor oil and magnesium sulphate, such as extending the latency, reducing the water content of faeces, the frequency of defecation and the number of wet defecations, compared to the negative control and to the dose 2.5 mg/kg of loperamide used as reference substance.Conclusion: We can therefore conclude that the leaves of Hibiscus asper possess antibacterial and antidiarrhoeal effects, resulting from their activity leading to the antibiotic mechanisms, the reabsorption of electrolytes (Na+, K+ and Cl-) and water. These results reconcile the ethnopharmacological use of Hibiscus asper in the treatment of gastro-intestinal infections.Key words: Antidiarrhoeal, Antibacterial, Hibiscus asper