Two new compounds, an ent-isopimarane-type diterpene, 3alpha,12alpha-dihydroxy-ent-8(14),15-isopimaradien-18-al (1), and a dihydrobenzo[b]furan neolignan, (-)-trans-9-acetyl-4,9'-di-O-methyl-3'-de-O-methyldehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (2), along with five known compounds, 7,7'-dihydroxy-6,8'-bicoumarin (bicoumol) (3), 3,4-dimethoxycinnamaldehyde (4), 6-hydroxy-7-methoxycoumarin (isoscopoletin), N-butylaniline, and vanillin, have been isolated from an ethyl acetate-soluble extract of the stem wood of Euphorbiaquinquecostata. The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis was used to confirm the structure and relative stereochemistry of 1. The absolute configuration of 1 was established by a convenient Mosher ester procedure in which the sample was treated with MTPA chlorides in deuterated pyridine directly in NMR tubes. All isolates were evaluated for the induction of quinone reductase in Hepa1c1c7 hepatoma cells and for the inhibition of the transformation of murine epidermal JB6 cells.

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Background: Candida albicans has become resistant to the already limited, toxic and expensive anti-Candida agents available in the market. These factors necessitate the search for new anti-fungal agents.

Collaboration between traditional healers and biomedical practitioners is now being accepted by many African countries south of the Sahara because of the increasing problem of HIV/AIDS. The key problem, however, is how to initiate collaboration between two health systems which differ in theory of disease causation and management. This paper presents findings on experience learned by initiation of collaboration between traditional healers and the Institute of Traditional Medicine in Arusha and Dar-es-Salaam Municipalities, Tanzania where 132 and 60 traditional healers respectively were interviewed. Of these 110 traditional healers claimed to be treating HIV/AIDS. The objective of the study was to initiate sustainable collaboration with traditional healers in managing HIV/AIDS. Consultative meetings with leaders of traditional healers' associations and government officials were held, followed by surveys at respective traditional healers' "vilinge" (traditional clinics). The findings were analysed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings showed that influential people and leaders of traditional healers' association appeared to be gatekeepers to access potential good healers in the two study areas. After consultative meetings these leaders showed to be willing to collaborate; and opened doors to other traditional healers, who too were willing to collaborate with the Institute of Traditional Medicine in managing HIV/AIDS patients. Seventy five percent of traditional healers who claimed to be treating HIV/AIDS knew some HIV/AIDS symptoms; and some traditional healers attempted to manage these symptoms. Even though, they were willing to collaborate with the Institute of Traditional Medicine there were nevertheless some reservations based on questions surrounding sharing from collaboration. The reality of past experiences of mistreatment of traditional healers in the colonial period informed these reservations. General findings suggest that initiating collaboration is not as easy as it appears to be from the literature, if it is to be meaningful; and thus we are calling for appropriate strategies to access potential healers targeted for any study designed with sustainability in mind.

BackgroundTernimalia brownii Fresen (Combretaceae) is widely used in traditional medicine to treat bacterial, fungal and viral infections. There is a need to evaluate extracts of this plant in order to provide scientific proof for it's wide application in traditional medicine system.MethodsExtraction of stem bark, wood and whole roots of T. brownii using solvents of increasing polarity, namely, Pet ether, dichloromethane, dichloromethane: methanol (1:1), methanol and aqua, respectively, afforded dry extracts. The extracts were tested for antifungal and antibacterial activity and for brine shrimp toxicity test.ResultsExtracts of the stem bark, wood and whole roots of T. brownii exhibited antibacterial activity against standard strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella typhi, and Bacillus anthracis and the fungi, Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans. Aqueous extracts exhibited the strongest activity against both bacteria and fungi. Extracts of the roots and stem bark exhibited relatively mild cytotoxic activity against brine shrimp larvae with LC50 values ranging from 113.75–4356.76 and 36.12–1458.81 μg/ml, respectively. The stem wood extracts exhibited the highest toxicity against the shrimps (LC50 values 2.58–14.88 μg/ml), while that of cyclophosphamide, a standard anticancer drug, was 16.33 (10.60–25.15) μg/ml.ConclusionThese test results support traditional medicinal use of, especially, aqueous extracts for the treatment of conditions such as diarrhea, and gonorrhea. The brine shrimp results depict the general trend among plants of the genus Terminalia, which are known to contain cytotoxic compounds such as hydrolysable tannins. These results warrant follow-up through bioassay-directed isolation of the active principles.

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A new biflavanoid, ent-naringeninyl-(I-3alpha,II-8)-4'-O-methylnaringenin (6), along with five known xanthones and two known biflavonoids, was isolated from the root bark of Garcinia livingstonei collected in Tanzania. The absolute configuration of 6 was established by CD spectroscopy. This compound showed moderate activity against P. falciparum (IC(50) 6.7 microM). Antitrypanosomal activity (IC(50) 0.87 microM) was observed for 1,4,5-trihydroxy-3-(3-methylbut-2-enyl)-9H-xanthen-9-one (3). The dimeric xanthone garcilivin A (4) showed a higher and nonselective antiparasitic activity and cytotoxicity (IC(50) 2.0 microM against MRC-5 cells) than its diastereoisomer garcilivin C (5) (IC(50) 52.3 microM).

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