The conventional use of medicinal plants is in part based on the widespread belief that plant crude extracts are non-toxic. In South Africa, traditional preparations of Cassipourea flanaganii used to treat hypermelanosis have accordingly been regarded by many as non-toxic. Whether that is so impacts on the potential of bark extracts to be developed as a commercial drug to treathypermelanosis, given their documented capacity to inhibit tyrosinase activity. Our study investigated the acute and subacute toxicity of the methanol extract of C. flanaganii bark in rats. Wistar rats were randomly assigned into different treatment groups. The rats received a daily oral gavage of crude extract for acute and subacute toxicity tests. Haematological, biomechanical, clinical and histopathology examinations were carried out to evaluate the possible toxicity of C. flanaganii. The results were subjected to the Student’s t-test and ANOVA. For both acute and subacute toxicity, there was no statistical difference between the groups. There were no clinical or behavioral signs of toxicity observed in the rats. No treatment-related gross pathology lesions and no histopathology were observed. The findings of this study demonstrate the absence of acute or subacute toxicity after oral treatment with C. flanaganii stem bark extracts in Wistar rats at the levels administered. Chemical profiling of the total extract using LC-MS tentatively identified eleven (11) compounds as the major chemical constituents.

Melasma is a challenging chronic skin condition associated with hyperpigmentation and unknown aetiology. This scoping review maps evidence of available treatments and their effectiveness in darker skin types. A comprehensive, systematic online search was conducted in Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL Complete, Cochrane, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science Core Collection. All eligible titles were exported to an EndNote20 library (Clarivate analytics, US), . Thematic content analysis was performed to summarise data on current melasma treatments for darker skin types. The quality of included articles was appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) 2018 version. A total of 2863 articles were retrieved from the databases, and 10 met the eligibility criteria following abstract and full-text screening. Our findings demonstrate that topical treatments, chemical peels, lasers, and tranexamic acid are common treatment modalities used in darker skin types. Although these treatments may be effective in the short term, they bring about undesirable side effects and sometimes worsen or result in reoccurrences of melasma. Based on the evidence mapped, current treatment modalities are not suitable for darker skin types. There are very few studies conducted on individuals of African descent. Further research is necessary to investigate treatment interventions that may be user-friendly when dealing with darker skin types.

The conventional use of medicinal plants is in part based on the widespread belief that plant crude extracts are non-toxic. In South Africa, traditional preparations of Cassipourea flanaganii used to treat hypermelanosis have accordingly been regarded by many as non-toxic. Whether so, impacts on the potential of bark extracts to be developed as a commercial drug to treat melasma, given their documented capacity to inhibit tyrosinase activity. Our study investigated the acute and subacute toxicity of the methanol extract of C. flanaganii bark in rats. Wistar rats were randomly assigned into different treatment groups. The rats received daily oral gavage of crude extract for acute and sub-acute toxicity tests. Haematological, biomechanical, clinical and histopathology examinations were carried out to evaluate possible toxicity of C. flanaganii. Results were subjected to the Student’s t-test and ANOVA. For both acute and subacute toxicity, there was no statistical difference between groups. There were no clinical or behavioral signs of toxicity observed in the rats. No treatment-related gross pathology lesions as well as no histopathology was observed. The findings of this study demonstrate the absence of acute or subacute toxicity after oral treatment with C. flanaganii bark extracts in Wistar rats at the levels administered.

Melasma is a challenging chronic skin condition associated with hyperpigmentation and un-known etiology. This scoping review mapped evidence of available treatments and their effectiveness in darker skin types. A comprehensive, systematic online search was conducted in Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL Complete, Cochrane, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science Core Collection. All eligible titles were exported to an Endnote20 library. Thematic content analysis was performed to summarise data on current melasma treatments for darker skin types. The quality of included articles was appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) 2018 version. A total of 2863 articles were retrieved from the databases, and 10 met the eligibility criteria following abstract and full-text screening. Our findings demonstrate that topical treatments, chemical peels, lasers, and tranexamic acid are common treatment modalities used in darker skin types. Although these treatments may be effective in the short term, they bring about un-desirable side effects and sometimes worsen or result in reoccurrences of melasma. Based on the evidence mapped, current treatment modalities are not suitable for darker skin types. There are very few studies conducted on individuals of African descent. Further research is necessary to investigate treatment interventions which may be user-friendly when dealing with darker skin types.