Olayinka M. Bolaji

Cultural categorization of febrile illnesses in correlation with herbal remedies used for treatment in Southwestern Nigeria

The ethnographic study was conducted in two communities in Oyo State in Southwestern Nigeria. The study sites consisted of a rural and an urban local government area located in the tropical rain forest zone of Nigeria. The study was designed to obtain information on febrile illnesses and herbal remedies for treatment with the aim of identifying potential antimalarial drugs. The study revealed that fever is a general term for describing illnesses associated with elevated body temperature. The indigenous Yoruba ethnic population has categorized fever based on symptoms and causes. The present communication is the result of focus group discussion and semi-structured questionnaire administered to traditional healers, herb sellers, elders and mothers. This was on types of fevers, symptoms and causes of febrile illnesses. The investigation also included use of traditional herbs in the prevention and treatment of the illnesses in the two communities.A total of 514 respondents were interviewed. This was made up of 266 (51.8%) from Atiba local government area (LGA), an urban centre while 248 (48.2%) respondents were interviewed from Itesiwaju LGA, a rural community. The LGAs are located in Oyo State of Nigeria. The respondents proffered 12 types of febrile illnesses in a multiple response answering system in Yoruba language. The most common ones (direct translation into English) were: yellow fever (39.1%), typhoid (34.8%), ordinary (28.8%), rainy season (20.8%) and headache (10.5%) fevers, respectively. Perceived causes of each of the febrile illnesses included stress, mosquito bites, unclean water, rains and over exposure to the sun. Methods of fever prevention were mainly with the use of herbal decoctions, powdered herbs, orthodox medications and maintenance of proper hygiene. Of a total of 112 different herbal remedies used in the treatment of the febrile illnesses compiled from the study, 25 recipes are presented. Recipes consisted of 2-7 ingredients. Oral decoctions (84%), oral powders (63%), use as soaps and creams (40%) in a multiple response system, were the most prevalent routes of administration of prepared herbs used in the treatment of the fevers. Boiling in water or alcohol was the most common method used in the preparation of the remedies. The four most frequently mentioned (multiple response system) plants in the Southwest ethnobotany for fevers were Azadirachta indica (87.5%), Mangifera indica (75.0%), Morinda lucida (68.8%) and Citrus medica (68.8%).

Antimalarial Ethnobotany: In Vitro. Antiplasmodial Activity of Seven Plants Identified in the Nigerian Middle Belt

Abstract Seven methanol extracts of seven plants from seven plant families were screened for antimalarial properties. The plants were identified and selected from Gboko and Kastina-Ala local government areas in the Tivland ethnobotany in the Middle Belt Zone of Nigeria. Methanol plant extracts were evaluated for in vitro. antimalarial properties using the lactate dehydrogenase technique, with a multiresistant strain of Plasmodium falciparum. K1. Quantification of activity was by estimation of the concentration of extracts that inhibited 50% growth of parasite (IC50) in µg/ml. Of the seven plants screened, Erythrina senegalensis. DC (Leguminosae), Pericopsis elata. Harms (Papilionaceae), and Bridelia micrantha. Benth (Fabaceae) had IC50 values of 99.7, 124.8, and 158.7 µg/ml, respectively. Nauclea latifolia. SM (Rubiaceae) extract exhibited the least activity in the assay with an IC50 value of 478.9 µg/ml.

Activities of Artemether-Lumefantrine and Amodiaquine-Sulfalene-Pyrimethamine against Sexual-Stage Parasites in Falciparum Malaria in Children

The activities of artemether-lumefantrine and amodiaquine-sulfalene-pyrimethamine against sexual-stage parasites were evaluated in 42 of 181 Nigerian children with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria who had gametocytaemia before, during or after treatment with the two combination therapies. The children were randomized to the standard dose regimens. Clinical recovery from illness occurred in all children who carried gametocytes. Gametocytaemia was detected in 20 patients (11%) before treatment and in another 22 patients (12.2%) after treatment. Game- tocyte carriage rates were similar in both combination treatment groups, but the area under the curve of gametocytaemia plotted against time was 8-fold higher in the amodiaquine-sulfalene-pyrimethamine-treated than in the artemether-lumefantrine-treated children. The pretreatment gametocyte sex ratio was female biased in both treatment groups. During follow-up, there was a short-lived but significant increase in the gametocyte sex ratio in children treated with amodiaquine-sulfalene-pyrimethamine but not in those treated with artemether-lumefantrine. These results indicate that both combination therapies had moderate effects on gametocyte carriage, but artemether-lumefantrine may be more potent at reducing transmissibility in P. falciparum malaria by exerting greater effects on post-treatment gametocyte density and gametocyte sex ratio.

Enhancement of the antimalarial efficacy of amodiaquine by chlorpheniramine in vivo

Resistance in Plasmodium falciparum to amodiaquine (AQ) can be reversed in vitro with with antihistaminic and tricyclic antidepressant compounds, but its significance in vivo is unclear. The present report presents the enhancement of the antimalarial efficacy of AQ by chlorpheniramine, an H1 receptor antagonist that reverses chloroquine (CQ) resistance in vitro and enhances its efficacy in vivo, in five children who failed CQ and/or AQ treatment, and who were subsequently retreated and cured with a combination of AQ plus CP, despite the fact that parasites infecting the children harboured mutant pfcrtT76 and pfmdr1Y86 alleles associated with AQ resistance. This suggests a potential clinical application of the reversal phenomenon.

(Ca2++ Mg2+)-ATPase of TRYPANOSOMES

Trypanosoma gambiense and T. rhodesiense are the causative agents of African trypanosomiasis [sleeping sickness) in man. Morphologically, the two agents can not be distinguished. T. rhodesiense is however the more virulent. T. brucei causes the animal disease that is called “nagana.” Although T. brucei does not infect man, it is morphologically similar to T. gambiense and T. rhodesiense. The specific lysis of T. brucei in man is probably caused by a lipoprotein molecule.’ Because T. brucei is generally regarded as the ancestral form that gave rise to T. rhodesiense, all three species are commonly referred to as the “brucei” group of trypanosomes. Ca2+ stimulates the activity of adenylate cyclase in whole-cell preparations of T. brucei to levels 10to 20-fold greater than basal? Calmodulin activates adenylate cyclase of procaryotes3 and has been shown to he an important regulator of the Caz+-pumping ATPase in the erythrocyte plasma membrane4 and heart sarc01emma.~ Stoppani and his collaborators have determined the activities of Caz+and M&+-mediated ATPase in T. cruzi,6-8 the causative agent of Chagas’ disease. We herein present preliminary evidence that Ca2+-pumping ATPase is present in the plasma membrane-rich fraction of the parasitic protozoan T. brucei brucei.

Herpes simplex labialis in children with acute falciparum malaria.

Infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is common globally and may manifest as symptomatic facial infections. Plasmodium falciparum malaria is common in sub-Saharan African children and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in these children. Therefore there is an increased chance that both infections may co-exist. Although malaria-associated morbidity may be relatively moderate or severe and that from herpes labialis (HL) one of the facial manifestations of HSV-1 infections relatively trivial it is unclear whether concomitant HL in children with acute malaria may aggravate the morbidity associated with both diseases. In addition little is known of the prevalence of HL in children with malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Knowledge of the possible interactions between the two diseases may help in improving the management of both. Falciparum malaria particularly its severe form may be associated with bacteraemia septicaemia or viraemia. Although fever and other factors are known triggers of recurrent HL it is unclear whether malaria or the fever associated with it is an efficient trigger of HL. (excerpt)