25 research outputs found
Effect of an aqueous extract of Azadirachta indica on the immune response in mice
lmmunopotentiating agents are useful in enhancing resistance to infections in individuals whose immunocompetence
is compromised for one reason or another.
Because of the very wide spectrum of infectious and non·infectious diseases for which preparations
from Azadirachta indica are said to be efficacious, it was suspected that a general immunopotentiating
ability could be part of the mechanisms by which it ameliorates so many disease conditions. Using
the haemolytic plaque technique, an aqueous extract of Azadirachta indica stem bark was shown to
enhance the immune response of BALB/C mice to sheep red blood cells in vivo.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi.
Adobe Acrobat v.9 was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.Deans' Committee, University of Nairobi.mn201
In vitro anti-viral activity of aqueous extracts of Kenyan Carissa edulis Prunus africana and Melia azedarach against human cytomegalovirus.
The aqueous extracts of three medicinal plants, Carissa edulis (Forssk.) Vahl
(Apocynaceae), Prunus africana (Hook.f.) Kalkm (Rosaceae) and Melia azedarach L.
(Meliaceae) have shown significant reduction in the replication of human
cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in human embryonic lung (HEL) fibroblasts cells in vitro.
Using the plaque inhibition assay for the determination of anti-viral activity, the HEL
fibroblast cells cultured in 24 well plates were infected with 1 x 102 PFU 91S HCMV and
treated with various concentrations of the extracts. The plaques formed were counted
after 7 days incubation at 370C in 5% CO2 and the percent plaques inhibited were
calculated against infected untreated control. The effective concentrations inhibiting
plaque formation by 50% (EC50) was found between 40 to 80 μg/ml for all the extracts. The cell cytotoxic concentrations (CC50) for each of the three extracts, by the trypan blue exclusion test, gave a safe therapeutic index. These results have demonstrated the potential anti-viral activities of the extracts of the three medicinal plants at non-cytotoxic
concentrations. African Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 14 (3-4) 2007: pp. 143-14
Non-Effectiveness of Azadirachta indica (Neem Tree) Leaf Extract against the Larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis and Trichinella spiralis.
The effectiveness of the leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica (neem tree) against two nematodes, Angiostrongylus cantonensis and Trichinella spiralis was investigated in mice. Laboratory mice were inoculated with the nematodes followed by the oral administration of the leaf extracts. Two standard drugs, flubendazole and mebendazole were compared with the plant extract in the study. No significant effects of the leaf extract against the nematodes were observed. Thus, although the extract has been shown by other investigators to be animalarial, antibacterial and antifungal, no activity was observed against the two nematodes in this study
In vitro anti-viral activity of aqueous extracts of Kenyan Carissa edulis , Prunus africana and Melia azedarach against human cytomegalovirus
The aqueous extracts of three medicinal plants, Carissa edulis
(Forssk.) Vahl (Apocynaceae), Prunus africana (Hook.f.) Kalkm
(Rosaceae) and Melia azedarach L. (Meliaceae) have shown significant
reduction in the replication of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in human
embryonic lung (HEL) fibroblasts cells in vitro. Using the plaque
inhibition assay for the determination of anti-viral activity, the HEL
fibroblast cells cultured in 24 well plates were infected with 1 x 102
PFU 91S HCMV and treated with various concentrations of the extracts.
The plaques formed were counted after 7 days incubation at 37\ub0C in
5% CO2 and the percent plaques inhibited were calculated against
infected untreated control. The effective concentrations inhibiting
plaque formation by 50% (EC50) was found between 40 to 80 \u3bcg/ml
for all the extracts. The cell cytotoxic concentrations (CC50) for each
of the three extracts, by the trypan blue exclusion test, gave a safe
therapeutic index. These results have demonstrated the potential
anti-viral activities of the extracts of the three medicinal plants at
non-cytotoxic concentrations
Editorial: Institutionalization of African Traditional Medicine in Health Care Systems in Africa
No Abstract Available
African Journal of Health Sciences Vol.11(1&2) 2004: i-i