An approach for the evaluation of rural governance in Cameroon: are community forests really forests for the communities?

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the contribution of the traditional exploitation of timber, in a community framework, to the respect of governance principles in actions for the fight against poverty in some rural communities in Cameroon. In 1990, the government of Cameroon adopted laws on the freedom of association that authorised teaming up for the search of possibilities for a better economic welfare of populations. It is in line with this that in 1994, a new forest law which authorises willing communities to organise themselves and request the government to grant them a portion of the national forest of the public domain to be managed by them and for their personal interest. Also, and with the help of the international community, Cameroon elaborated in 1998 its first poverty reduction strategy paper that encouraged amongst others, community actions in the search of solutions to the economic crisis that stroke the country. Through the application of a logit model to the responses collected through a survey carried out on a sample of 200 individuals of the East region of Cameroon, it was noticed that timber exploitation in a community framework does not necessarily lead to the strengthening of the links of belonging to a common community, and to the equitable redistribution of revenues from the exploitation of the community forest.Community forests, gender, equity, governance, fight against poverty, participation

Diversité ethno-culturelle et différentiel de pauvreté multidimensionnelle au Cameroun

Peu de recherches ont concilié le caractère multidimensionnel de la pauvreté avec le conditionnement culturel des populations pour orienter les politiques. La démarche de la MES (Modélisation en Équations Structurelles) à travers sa technique de comparaison de modèles nichés a permis de formuler et de tester les hypothèses de recherche. Les résultats montrent que les différences de niveau observées sur les dimensions de pauvreté résultent significativement (ce qui ne veut pas dire exclusivement) des systèmes de valeurs culturelles partagés au sein des groupes. Les facteurs par lesquels transite l'élément culturel vers le domaine de la pauvreté sont de deux ordres. Il s'agit du différentiel des perceptions et des déterminants de la pauvreté. Compte tenu de ces résultats et pour une stratégie crédible de réduction de la pauvreté, nous proposons une approche participative et décentralisée prudente pour définir les actions de lutte répondant aux besoins exprimés par les populations concernées.Pauvreté multidimensionnelle, culture, différentiel de pauvreté, MES, modèles nichés, variables latentes, indicateurs de pauvreté

Chemical constituents of the ethyl acetate extracts of the stem bark and fruits of Dichrostachys cinerea and the roots of Parkia bicolor

The antibacterial activities of ethyl acetate, methanol and aqueous extracts of the stem bark of Dichrostachys cinerea and the roots of Parkia bicolor have been evaluated. Ethyl acetate extracts have been investigated, studies that led to a series of known compounds, amongst which many are reported here for the very first time from both the species.  KEY WORDS: Dichrostachys cinerea, Parkia bicolor, Chemical constituents, Antibacterial activity Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2004, 18(1), 111-115

Poly[(μ-5,7-dihydr­oxy-4-oxo-2-phenyl-4H-chromene-8-sulfonato)potassium(I)]

In the polymeric title compound, [K(C15H9O7S)]n, the potassium cation is five-coordinated by four sulfonate O atoms and one carbonyl O atom. Two intra­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds stabilize the conformation of the anion. The polymeric three-dimensional supra­molecular architecture is formed via coordination inter­actions and π–π stacking inter­actions involving centrosymmetrically related pyrone rings, with a centroid–centroid separation of 3.513 (2) Å

Heterocycles of biological importance: Part 7. Synthesis of biologicallyactive pyrimido[2,1-b]benzothiazoles from acetylenic acids and2-aminobenzothiazoles

Conjugate addition of the imino nitrogen of 2-aminobenzothiazoles 1 to the alkyne β-carbon atom of acetylenic acids 2 followed by ring closure gives rise to novel 2H-pyrimido[2,1-b]-benzothiazol-2-ones in good yield

Heterocycles of biological importance: Part 6. The formation of novelbiologically active pyrimido[1,2-a]benzimid-azoles from electron deficientalkynes and 2-aminobenzimidazoles

2-Aminobenzimidazole (1a) and its 5,6-dimethyl derivative 1b react with phenylpropynenitrile (2) to give 2-amino-4-phenylpyrimido[1,2-a]benzimidazoles 8a,b in excellent yields. Of these compounds, 2-amino-7,8-dimethyl-4- phenylpyrimido[1,2-a]benzimidazole (8b) has been shown to possess diuretic properties. Acetylenic aldehydes 9a,b also react with 1a,b to give pyrimido[1,2-a]benzimidazoles 13a-13d in good yield

Evaluation of four Cameroonian medicinal plants for anticancer, antigonorrheal and antireverse transcriptase activities

Methanol extracts from the leaves, bark and roots of four Cameroonian medicinal plants, Bersama engleriana, Cupressus lusitanica, Vitellaria paradoxa and Guibourtia tessmannii were tested for their in vitro cytotoxicity, antigonorrheal and antireverse transcriptase activities. The XTT (2,3-bis[2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl]-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxyanilide inner salt) assay, the dilution method and reverse transcriptase (RT) assay were used for the investigations. Preliminary phytochemical analysis of the extracts was also conducted using standard methods. Results showed that all extracts contained compounds belonging to the classes of phenols and terpenoids. They were also able to reduce in dose dependent manner, the proliferation of the cancer THP-1, DU145, HeLa, MCF-7, HepG2 and the normal Vero cells. IC50 values below 30 μg/ml were noted with extract from the three parts of B. engleriana on at least two of the five studied cancer cell lines, the lowest value of 5.9 μg/ml being obtained with sample from the bark. IC50 values below 30 μg/ml were also recorded with extracts from the leaves (on HeLa cells) and bark (on MCF-7) of G. tessmanii, and that from the bark of C. lusitanica on MCF-7. Extracts from B. engleriana and those from the bark of V. paradoxa gave the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values below 100 μg/ml on most of the 10 tested Nesseria gonorrhoeae strains. Extracts from B. engleriana also inhibited more than 80% the activity of the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) enzyme. Finally, the results of the present study provide baseline information for the use of B. engleriana, C. lusitanica, G. tessmanii, V. paradoxa.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/etapnf201

Antibacterial constituents of three Cameroonian medicinal plants : Garcinia nobilis, Oricia suaveolens and Balsamocitrus camerunensis

BACKGROUND: Multidrug resistance is a worrying cause of treatment failure in bacterial infections. The search of bioactive constituents from medicinal plants against multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria has significantly evolved in the two last decades. In the present study, twenty-two compounds (three terpenoids, eleven phenolics and eight alkaloids) isolated from three Cameroonian medicinal plants, namely Garcinia nobilis, Oricia suaveolens and Balsamocitrus camerunensis, as well as the crude extracts were tested for their antibacterial activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Gram-negative bacteria amongst which were MDR active efflux pumps expressing phenotypes. METHODS: The microplate alamar blue assay (MABA) and the broth microdilution methods were used to determine the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentrations (MBC) of the studied samples. RESULTS: The results of the MIC determinations indicate that, the best crude extract was that from G. nobilis (GNB), its inhibitory effects being noted against 12 of the 14 tested bacteria. The extract of GNB also exhibited better anti-tuberculosis (MIC of 128 μg/ml M. tuberculosis against ATCC 27294 strain) and antibacterial (MIC of 64 μg/ml against Escherichia coli ATCC10536) activities compared to the extracts of O. suaveolens and B. camerunensis. Interestingly, 4-prenyl-2-(3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienyl)-1,3,5,8-tetrahydroxyxanthone (2), isolated from the most active extract GNB, also showed the best activity amongst compounds, inhibiting the growth of all the fourteen tested microorganisms. The lowest MIC value obtained with compound 2 was 8 μg/ml against M. tuberculosis ATCC 27294 and M. tuberculosis clinical MTCS2 strains. Other compounds showed selective activities with 11 of the 14 tested bacteria being sensitive to the xanthone, morusignin I (5) and the alkaloid, kokusaginine (13). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present investigation provide evidence that the crude extract from G. nobilis, O. suaveolens and B. camerunensis as well as some of their compounds, and mostly compound 2 (isolated from G. nobilis,) could be considered as interesting natural antibacterial products.International Foundation for Science (IFS-Grant F/4579-2 to VK), TWAS for financial support for ICCBSTWAS fellowship at the H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center of Chemical Sciences, University of Karachi, Pakistan on year 2010 (HF).http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmccomplementalternmedam201

Synthesis and anticancer activity evaluation of some new 1,2,3,5-tetrazine derivatives attached to benzothiazole moiety

A series of novel tetrazine derivatives, containing benzothiazole framework, were prepared during the coupling reactions of some diazotized 2-aminobenzo[d]thiazole derivatives with p-acetaminophen. Their structures were elucidated based on NMR and MS spectrometry. The anticancer activity and the safety of the synthesized compounds along with the entire precursors were assessed against three human cancer cell lines and a normal cell line. All the synthesized compounds showed selective cytotoxic activity against the cancer cell lines used in comparison to the normal Vero cell line. Their IC50 values varied from 2.02 to 171.67 μM.The Cameroonian Ministry of Higher Education special research allocation, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the University of Pretoria.https://www.arkat-usa.org/arkivoc-journalam2023Paraclinical Science

Cytotoxicity, nitric oxide and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of three limonoids isolated from Trichilia welwitschii (Meliaceae)

BACKGROUND: Limonoids are highly oxygenated compounds with a prototypical structure. Their occurrence in the plant kingdom is mainly confined to plant families of Meliaceae and Rutaceae. Owing to their wide range of pharmacological and therapeutic properties, this study was aimed at investigating the potential nitric oxide (NO) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory activity and the cytotoxicity of three limonoids: trichilia lactone D5 (1), rohituka 3 (2) and dregeanin DM4 (3), isolated from Trichilia welwitschii C.DC RESULTS: Results indicated that the three limonoids had low cytotoxicity towards Vero cells with LC50 values ranging from 89.17 to 75.82 (μg/L. Compounds (2) and (3) had lower cytotoxicity compared to puromycin and doxorubicin used as reference cytotoxic compounds. Compound (1) (LC50 of 23.55 (μg/L) had good antiproliferative activity against RAW 264.7 cancer cells. At the lowest concentration tested (0.5 μg/mL), compound (2) and (3) released the lowest amount of nitric oxide (2.97 and 2.93 μM, respectively). The three limonoids had anti-AChE activity with IC50 values ranged of 19.13 (μg/L for (1), 34.15 (μg/L for (2) and 45.66 (μg/L for (3), compared to galantamine (IC50 of 8.22 ( g/mL) used as positive control CONCLUSION: The limonoid compounds studied in this work inhibited nitric oxide production in LPS-stimulated macrophages and had anti-AChE activity. Trichilia lactone D5 had potential antiproliferative activity against RAW 264.7 cancer cells. The limonoids had low cytotoxicity towards Vero cells lines. This study provided further examples of the importance of limonoids compounds as potential AChE inhibitors and anti-inflammatory agents targeting the inhibition of NO productio