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Tectona grandis (T. grandis) is a medicinal plant widely used in Cameroon to treat typhoid fever and several other diseases. Despite its heavy use for medical purposes, no study has yet been conducted to assess its potentially toxic effects. This study aimed at evaluating the acute and subchronic toxicological profile of Tectona grandis leaf extract in rats. The acute toxicity study revealed neither behavioral disturbances nor death in rats. The lethal dose (DL50) of this extract is greater than 5000 mg/kg body weight. The subchronic toxicity study showed no significant change in weight gain in rats at test doses throughout the treatment period. However, there was a significant decrease in alanine transaminase activity and serum protein levels at all doses. Alkaline phosphatase activity decreased at doses of 30, 90, and 270 mg/kg and increased at the dose of 810 mg/kg body weight. Serum and urinary urea levels increased simultaneously at doses of 270 and 810 mg/kg body weight. Repeated administration of the extract also increased total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein levels in both sexes were compared to respective controls, and the ratio of high- to low-density lipoprotein was found to be greater than 1 in all animals. However, at the dose of 810 mg/kg, necrosis was observed on the kidney sections and vascular congestion on the liver sections of animals. Aqueous extract of T. grandis did not lead to any adverse effects in rats after acute and subchronic treatment at 30 and 90 mg/kg doses. This extract can, therefore, be used for the formulation of typhoid fever phytomedicine at the therapeutic dose of 30 mg/kg, but before this, chronic and mutagenic toxicity evaluations must be carried out.

Background Bacteria belonging to the Salmonella genus are major concern for health, as they are widely reported in many cases of food poisoning. The use of antibiotics remains a main stream control strategy for avian salmonellosis as well as typhoid and paratyphoid fevers in humans. Due to the growing awareness about drug resistance and toxicities, the use of antibiotics is being discouraged in many countries whilst advocating potent benign alternatives such as phyto-based medicine. The objective of this work was to isolate, characterise the bioactive compounds of Canarium schweinfurthii; and evaluate their anti-salmonellal activity. Methods The hydro-ethanolic extract of Canarium schweinfurthii was fractionated and tested for their anti-salmonellal activity. The most active fractions (i.e. chloroform and ethyl acetate partition fractions) were then explored for their phytochemical constituents. Fractionation on normal phase silica gel column chromatography and size exclusion chromatography on Sephadex LH-20 led to the isolation of four compounds (maniladiol, scopoletin, ethyl gallate and gallic acid) reported for the first time in Canarium schweinfurthii. Results Result indicated that scopoletin and gallic acid had greater activity than the crude extracts and partition fractions. Among the isolated compounds, scopoletin showed the highest inhibitory activity with a MIC of 16 μg/ml against Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis. Conclusions The overall results of this study indicates that the hydro-ethanolic extract as well as some of isolated compounds have interesting anti-salmonellal activities that could be further explored for the development of potent therapy for salmonellosis. Furthermore, the study adds credence to the folkloric applications of the plant.

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Hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) are two among the numerous forms of infections whose clinical degeneration, morbidity–mortality and low immune responsiveness in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are highly evident. Co-infection of HIV with HBV and HCV has been associated with reduced survival, increased risk of progression to liver diseases and increased risk of hepatotoxicity associated with antiretroviral therapy (ARV). We carried out biochemical, immunological, virological and clinical analysis of hepatitis B and C positive HIV patients as well as some HIV positive individuals receiving antiretroviral therapy in Kumba Health District to evaluate the immune response to the ARV therapy and identified risk factors associated with the treatment outcomes. A total of 52 HIV patients, 36 HIV/HBV and 12 HIV/HCV patients were involved in this study. We performed CD4 counts, viral load test, analyzed ALAT/ASAT, albumin, bilirubin, and creatinine and measured the weights of HIV patients, HIV/HBV and HIV/HCV enrolled for not more than one year in Kumba Health District. The results were analyzed to evaluate the immune response and possible risk factors associated with the treatment outcomes. The mean increase in weight in participants of all groups over 12 months (17.12 kg) was greater than the mean increase in CD4 (8.92 cell/mm3). However, the mean decrease in viral loads over a 12 months was also very high (1035.17 copies/mL). There was a significant change in the mean values from baseline for all the three variables (p < 0.0001). HIV disease outcomes following HAART (high active antiretroviral therapy) do not appear to be adversely affected by HBV or HCV co-infection, except for slightly poorer CD4 count responses in HIV/HCV co-infected patients. Concerning the renal and liver functions, all the biomarkers witnessed a decrease in patients of all groups in response to HAART over time, with a more rapid decrease in mono-infected patients as compared with those co-infected with HBV but the case was contrary for those co-infected with HCV. Co-infection with HBV or HCV was relatively common among HIV infected participants in Kumba Health District. There were differences in response to HAART between the mono-infected compared with the co-infected, taking into consideration the weight, CD4 count, and viral load. In addition, there was also a variation in the different biomarkers of liver and renal function between mono-infected and co-infected patients.

Since ancient Greek-Roman times, the use of plants to cure many human diseases is still common. The present ethnobotanical survey was conducted to contribute to the knowledge of medicinal plants used for the treatment of typhoid fever in three sub divisions of Vina division, Adamawa Cameroon. After having explained the importance of this study to interviewees, 41 traditional healers have agreed and delivered information regarding the medicinal plants they use as well as the different preparation and administration through a well- structured questionnaire that was given to them on this matter. Among 41 traditional healers whose attended this study, 32 were men and 09 were women. The ethnobotanical survey allowed the identification of 70 plants belonging to 38 families. With a frequency of 11/70, the Fabaceae family was the most represented followed by that of Rubiaceae and Asteraceae (04/70 each). The leaves are the most used parts (34.28%) followed by leaves + roots (14.28%) and the whole plant (12.86%). The majority of the recipes consisted of four to six plants (34.66), and were prepared by decoction (50%), with water as the main solvent (87.80%). 41.56% of typhoid preparations are administered twice daily for a duration of 14 days (46.77%). This is the first report on antityphoid herbal remedies in Vina division-Adamawa Cameroon. It would therefore be judicious for our government and research institution to investigate on their therapeutic properties in order to develop ameliorated and efficient phytomedicines.

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