Background:Since ancient time, increased interest has been witnessed in the use of an alternative herbal medicine for managing, and the treatment of fungal diseases worldwide. This may be connected to the cost and relative toxicities of the available antifungal drugs. It has been a known tradition practiced in the northern part of Nigeria that parents and teachers use the white latex of Calotropis procera to treat Tinea capitis in children attending the local religious school in the area. This study was conducted in 2009 to ascertain the above claim.Materials and Methods:Fresh latex of C. procera was screened for their antifungal activity against species of dermatophytes: Trichophyton spp., Microsporum spp. and Epidermophyton spp. using the agar incorporation method.Results:The result shows that the latex inhibits the in vitro growth of these pathogenic fungi to varying extents with Trichophyton spp. being the most susceptible (P < 0.05) and thus highly inhibited by the latex followed by the Microsporum spp. and Epidermopyton spp. was least inhibited. These inhibitions followed a dose-dependent trend as undiluted latex (100%) gave the highest inhibitory impacts (P < 0.05) when compared to serially diluted latex. The phytochemical analysis of the fresh latex indicated the presence of alkaloids, saponin, tannins, steroids, flavonoids, anthraquinone, and triterpenoids.Conclusion:The findings of this study confirmed the perceived usefulness of the latex in the treatment of T. capitis (ringworm) practiced in our society and therefore, its use topically in the treatment of dermatomycotic infection is encouraged.
Borreria vertcillata is a woody perennial shrub with false-button weedy herb belonging to the family (Rubiaceae), used for treating/curing various forms of diseases across the world since ancient times. Qualitative phytochemical screening of Borreria vertcillata pulverized whole plant was carried out using four different solvent extracts (N-hexane, chloroform, ethyl-acetate and methanol). The phytochemicals screeened contained alkaloids, triterpenes, flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, saponnins, anthraquinones and steroids. The extracts were then screened for the presence of some phytochemicals such as alkaloids, anthraquinones, saponnins, steroids, terpenes, flavonoids, tannins and glycosides. All the extracts contained alkaloids, triterpenes and glycosides present but flavonoids, saponnins and tannins only present in ethyl acetate and methanol while anthraquinones and steroids were totally absent from the extracts .Of all the extracts Ethyl acetate extracts had the most influential effects on pathogenic organisms such as Culex quinquefasciatus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candidas albican
Microorganisms play a significant role in biological decomposition of materials, including synthetic polymers in natural environments. This research was aimed to asses some potential plastic degrading microbes in Katsina. Soil samples from four different locations of about 15,000 meters apart were used for this study. Portions of the soil samples were dried, ground and sieved through a 2mm sieve for Physico-chemical characterization. The soil temperature range from 26.30c to 29.60c, pH 5.67 to 6.26, % Nitrate 0.54 to 0.97, % Phosphates 2.03 to 3.83, % organic carbon 1.71 to 3.27, % organic matter 1.97 to 9.43 and % moisture content 7.13 to 16.22. Isolation and the enumeration of bacteria and fungi was done using nutrient agar and potato dextrose agar respectively. The total populations of bacteria ranged from 1.69 x 105 to 2.94 x 105 CFU/g in the soil while the fungi range from 1.60 x 104 to 8.35 x 104 CFU/g in the soil. The capability of microbial isolates to biodegrade ground polyethylene bags and plastic bottles was tested weekly. Microbes identified include Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus lactis, Bacillus subtilis, Diplococcus sp. and Pseudomonas sp. Eight degrading fungal species identified following fungal colony and color include Alternaria alternate, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus ornatus, Aspergillus candidus, Aspergillus nidulans, Aspergillus terreus and Rhizopus stolonifera. It can be concluded that the soil around Kofar Sauri, Kofar Marusa, Kofar Guga and Kofar Kaura of Katsina metropolis contains some plastic degrading microbial species. Hence, further investigation using GC-MS to analyze the microbial enzymes or organic acids in degradation of the polythene and plastics in eco-friendly way is recommended.
This study was carried out to investigate the phytochemical constituents, analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity of methanol stem extract of Globimetula braunii. Preliminary phytochemical screening was done using standard protocols, median lethal dose (LD50) was determined by Lorke’s method. Analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of extract were determined using acetic acid induced writhing and hot-plate model and the carrageenan-induced rat's paw edema model respectively at graded doses of 1000 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg and 250mg/kg. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of flavonoids, steroid, triterpenes and saponins. Intraperitoneal median lethal dose of the extract was estimated to be greater than 5000 mg/kg bodyweight in mice. The extract exhibited highest percentage inhibition of writhing (99.24%) at a dose of 1000 mg/kg. However, the extract showed no central analgesic activity. Furthermore, the extract at lowest and highest dose (250 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg) significantly (p<0.05) reduced paw size when compared to control group. The findings of this study suggest that the methanol stem extract of Globimetula braunii contains bioactive compounds with peripherally mediated analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity.
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