oxidative stress is a possible mechanism for the onset and development of epilepsy, while Menon et al. 9 demonstrated seizureinduced oxidative stress by reporting significant increase in the level of oxidative makers in epileptic patients. Antioxidant therapy in animal models, supported by clinical data, has been demonstrated to reduce oxidative stress and frequency of seizures. 10,11 Muscle spasm is a short painful muscular contraction which may be due to epilepsy. A number of conventional anti-epileptics, muscle relaxants and antioxidant drugs are currently available, but epilepsy is still poorly managed in about 20% of affected individuals. 12 Diseases caused by oxidative damage are still on the increase and the episodes of skeletal muscle spasm continue unabated. Hence, focus remains strong on indigenous plants which are promising sources of new drugs with better efficacy and safety profile relative to conventional agents, apart from the desirable prospect of developing standardized herbal remedies for CNS disorders. Costus afer Ker Grawl (Costaceae), Bush/Monkey sugar cane, is a perennial, herbaceous and rhizomatous plant found in Asia, Africa and Americas. 13-15 In west and tropical Africa, it grows well in moist or shady forest. 16,17 In Nigeria and other West African countries, C. afer is often planted in home gardens for medicinal purposes, with documentation of use in traditional medicine to treat diabetes, inflammation, joint pains, 16 measles, fever, malaria, etc. The rhizome decoction of another species (Costus dubius) is used to treat epilepsy. 18 This study was carried out to investigate the anticonvulsant, muscle relaxant and in-vitro antioxidant activities of the hydroethanol leaf extract of Costus afer in mice.
Effective use of antimicrobial agents for treatment/management of infectious diseases is decreasing due to emergency of multi-drug and cross resistant strains of pathogenic microbes. Medicinal plants are now increasingly used alone or as an adjunct in the management of infectious diseases as a result of their claimed efficacy and safety. This research focused on evaluating the antimicrobial potential of ethanol fruit peel extract of Mangifera indica against isolated Urinary tract infection (UTI) pathogens. Urinary tract infection (UTI) bacterial strains (staphylococcus aureus, escherichia coli and pseudomonas aeruginosa) were isolated from midstream urine of infected students using standard procedures after which the isolated Urinary tract infection pathogens were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility test by agar-well diffusion method (Cup plate method) and the mean diameter of growth inhibition zones (n=3) of the extract at different concentrations were compared against the controls (sterile water and ciprofloxacin). Ethanol fruit peel extract of Mangifera indica significantly and dose dependently inhibit the growth of all the isolated Urinary tract infection pathogens with E.coli exhibiting the highest inhibition zone ranging from 16.83 to 28.23 mm, this was followed by pseudomonas aeruginosa with inhibition zone of 24.33 mm and staphylococcus aureus least susceptible with 22.63 diameter of zone inhibition. Ethanol fruit peel extract of Mangifera indica demonstrated a dose dependent antimicrobial activity with more pronounced effect exhibited by E. coli suggesting that the extract is more effective against gram negative bacteria despite their permeability barrier, thus suggesting Mangifera indica fruit peel as a potential candidate for the management of bacterial infections especially those caused by gram negative organisms.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.