Medical pluralism on Mfangano Island: use of medicinal plants among persons living with HIV/AIDS in Suba District, Kenya

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Given the increasing coverage of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS treatment as well as the high utilization of herbal medicine, many persons living with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are thought to practice medical pluralism, or the adoption of more than one medical system for their care and treatment. Using a cross-sectional study we sought to document and identify the herbal medicines used by persons living with HIV/AIDS on Mfangano Island, Suba District, Nyanza Province, Kenya.

Materials and methods

We interviewed herbalists and knowledgeable mothers to obtain information regarding medicinal plants, particularly for HIV/AIDS-related symptoms, HIV/AIDS, and chira (an illness concept with similarities to HIV/AIDS regarding sexual transmission and wasting symptoms). Using systematic sampling, 67 persons living with HIV/AIDS (49 of whom were receiving ART) were selected from an Mfangano Island health clinic and participated in semi-structured interviews.

Results

Interviews with herbalists and mothers identified 40 plant species in 37 genera and 29 families that a person with HIV/AIDS or chira could use for herbal remedies. Overall, 70.1% of persons living with HIV/AIDS had used medicinal plants after HIV diagnosis, most commonly to treat symptoms related to HIV/AIDS. In addition to common vegetables and fruits that can serve medicinal purposes, Azadirachta indica A. Juss. (Meliaceae), Carissa edulis (Forssk.) Vahl (Apocynaceae), and Ximenia americana L. (Olacaceae) were the most frequently cited medicinal plants used by persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Conclusions

Collaboration and communication between biomedical clinicians and herbalists should be encouraged given high rates of concomitant ART-herb usage. Pharmacological, toxicological, and ART-herb interaction studies based on the plants identified in this study and their constituent ingredients should be considered.     

Practices of traditional birth attendants in Machakos District, kenya

Ethnopharmacological relevance

The aim of the study was to document TBAs practices as well as the indigenous herbal remedies they use to manage pre, intra and post partum complications in a rural Kenyan community.

Materials and Methods

A cross sectional study was conducted on practicing TBAs and their clients living in the study area. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and interviews. Focused group discussions were held with the TBAs to supplement the interviews and questionnaire survey.

Results

Two hundred TBAs and 20 clients were interviewed. The majority of the TBAs were females 75% of them having attended to over 200 pregnant women over a period of 5 years and above compared to only 6% of the males. A total of 10 pregnancy related complications and symptoms including threatened abortion, labor complications, post partum hemorrhage and retained after birth were recorded. Fifty five plant species most of them belonging to Euphorbiaceae family were identified for the management of the complications.

Conclusion

Traditional Birth Attendants still have a role to play in assisting pregnant women in rural communities. Their knowledge on herbal medicines is equally important and should be preserved for posterity.     

Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal plants in Maden (Elazig-Turkey)

Aim of the study

This study aimed to identify wild plants collected for medical purposes by the local people of Maden County, located in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey, and to establish the uses and local names of these plants.

Materials and methods

Field study was carried out over a period of approximately 2 years (2008-2010). During this period, 131 vascular plant specimens were collected. Demographic characteristics of participants, local plant names, utilized parts and preparation methods of the plants were investigated and recorded. In the scope of the study, the plant species were collected; herbarium materials were prepared; and the specimens were entitled. The Zazas are of the major ethnic group in the region. In addition, the relative importance value of the species was determined and informant consensus factor (FIC) was calculated for the medicinal plants included in the study.

Results

A total of 88 medical plants belonging to 41 families were identified in the region. 4 plants out of 88 were recorded to be used for curative purposes for the first time. It was determined that the local names of four different kinds of plants used in Maden were same as the different kinds of plants used in different regions. The most encountered medicinal plant families were Urticaceae (>21%), Rosaceae and Lamiaceae (>17% of use-reports), Asteraceae (>13%), Fabaceae (>8%), Brassicaceae (>7%), Poaceae (>4%); the most common preparations were decoction and infusion. Mentha spicata L. subsp. spicata, Rosa canina L. and Urtica dioica L. was the plants most used by the local people. Anthemis wiedemanniana Fisch. and Mey., Bunium paucifolium DC. var. brevipes (Freyn & Sint.) Hedge & Lam., Tchihatchewia isatidea Boiss., Thymus haussknechtii Velen. were found to be the endemic plants used for medical purposes in Maden, Turkey. The medicinal uses of Bunium paucifolium DC. var. brevipes (Freyn & Sint.) Hedge & Lam., Hippophae rhamnoides L. subsp. caucasica Roussi, Gladiolus atroviolaceus Boiss., Ixiolirion tataricum (Pallas) Herbert subsp. montanum (Labill.) Takht. were recorded for the first time.

Conclusion

Herbal treatment has become a tradition for the residents of the study region. These plants, which are used in the treatment of many diseases. Comparison of the data obtained in this study from the plants growing in Maden with the experimental data obtained in the previous laboratory studies proved most of the ethnobotanical usages. Literature review showed that curative plants of Maden are used in different parts of the world in the treatment of the same or similar diseases. If a plant is used to treat the same disease in different places across the world then its pharmacologic effect could be accepted. It would be beneficial to conduct pharmacologic studies on such plants. These plants, used in the treatment of many different diseases, are in this region at abundant amounts. Drying enabled local people to use medicinal plants during all seasons of the year. This study identified not only the wild plants collected for medical purposes by local people of Maden County in the Eastern Anatolia Region, but also the uses and local names of these plants. It is tried to generate a source for persons studying in ethnobotany, pharmacology and chemistry sciences by comparing knowledge gained from traditionally used herbs with previous laboratory studies.     

大药学背景下的药物化学创新教育

在科技迅猛发展的今天,药物化学已从一门包含化学和生物学知识的传统课程发展成为涉及多学科的复杂体系。结合当前的大药学背景,从教学内容、教学方式和课程体系三个方面对药物化学创新教育进行探索和实践。     

现阶段高等医药院校人文教育面临的问题和对策

人文教育是发展现代医药教育、培养高素质医药人才的必然要求。但是,现阶段高等医药院校人文学科的发展存在很多困难,人文教育的水平离其应当承担的责任依然相去甚远。高等医药院校加强人文教育,必须在思想观念的更新、人才培养模式的转变、校园文化环境建设的加强等方面作出进一步努力。     

Protective effect of Gymnema montanum against renal damage in experimental diabetic rats

Gymnema montanum Hook (Asclepiadaceae), is an endemic plant species of India, traditionally used for diabetes and its management. In this experiment, the ethanol extract of G. montanum (GLEt) at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight was tested to evaluate its effect on renal damage in alloxan-induced diabetic rats and the efficacy was compared with standard hypoglycemic drug, glibenclamide (600 μg/kg body weight). The GLEt and glibenclamide were administered orally for 3 weeks and the effects on glucose, insulin, renal markers including urea, creatinine and uric acid, lipid peroxidation markers including thiobarbituric reactive substances (TBARS) and hydroperoxides and antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) activities in kidney were studied. In addition, the urinary protein profile was studied using SDS–PAGE. The results indicated that the GLEt significantly normalized the elevated blood glucose, renal markers and lipid peroxidation markers and increased antioxidant levels in diabetic kidney. The diabetic rats excreted large amount of proteins than untreated rats which was normalized during the treatment with GLEt. In conclusion, the GLEt was found to be more effective in reducing oxidative stress, thus confirming the ethnopharmacological use of G. montanum in protecting diabetes and its complications.     

唐山地区药用植物资源及其可持续开发利用研究

目的:调查唐山地区药用植物资源的种类与分布,为药用植物资源的开发利用提供依据。方法:深入各代表性地域进行药用植物资源调查,采集标本,鉴定标本,考证文献资料,调查在民间的应用等。结果:唐山地区有药用植物113科、301属、382种,其中蕨类植物7科8属11种;裸子植物5科6属8种;单子叶植物9科36属42种。双子叶植物92科251属321种。结论:唐山地区药用植物资源丰富,具有较好的开发利用前景。     

基础医学专业研究生药物化学课堂教学浅谈

结合教学实践,从课堂教学的角度,对基础医学专业研究生药物化学课多种教学方式的课堂应用进行了探讨。     

Screening for anti-infective properties of several medicinal plants of the Mauritians flora

Several plants of the Mauritian flora alleged to possess anti-infective properties were studied against different strains of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. The grounded dried plant materials were extracted with different extractants and screened for anti-microbial activity using the disk diffusion and the micro-dilution techniques. Preliminary screening revealed that the methanol extracts were most active. Salmonella enteritidis, Enterobacter cloacae and Bacillus subtilis were the three test organisms, which were found to be susceptible to all the crude methanolic extracts of the different plants investigated (100% susceptibility), followed by Escherichia coli (57.1%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (57.1%), and Staphylococcus aureus (28.6%). The lowest minimum inhibitory concentration recorded for the different crude methanol extracts against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enteritidis, Enterobacter cloacae, Bacillus subtilis and the mould fungus Candida albicans were 500, 1000, 125, 250, 1000 and 125 micro g/ml, respectively. Bioautography using Cladosporium cucumerinum revealed that dichloromethane (DCM) extracts had the highest activity against the phytopathogenic fungus. It was also noted that the DCM extracts of Michelia champaca and Antidesma madagascariense yielded the maximum number of growth inhibiting compounds against Cladosporium cucumerinum. Activity of the different crude extracts was also investigated against several phytopathogenic filamentous fungi, Colletotrichum glocosporoides, Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotinia sclerotium, Guignardia sp. and Fusarium oxysporum. It was found that crude hexane extracts as well as crude DCM extracts exhibited marked activity against several strains of fungi, especially Colletotrichum glocosporoides, Sclerotinia sclerotium and Guignardia sp.     

Brazilian plants with possible action on the central nervous system: a study of historical sources from the 16th to 19th century

Brazil is a country rich in biodiversity, endemism, and cultural diversity, inhabited by different types of population. European expeditions and the migratory processes that began in the 16th century greatly contributed both to cultural diversity and to Brazilian popular therapeutics, and produced the first records on medicinal plants in Brazil. This study comprises a bibliographical survey of historic books found in Sao Paulo libraries (16th through 19th centuries) on medicinal plants exerting effects on the central nervous system (CNS). Thirty-four plants native to Brazil were selected from the reading of the books. Of these 34 plants, 13 were also recorded in ethnopharmacological studies among modern Brazilian communities and 16 have been studied phytochemically. Only eight have been the object of pharmacological studies, six of these, recently, with a request for a patent. Results showed that most of the species recorded in this study have been reported as medicinal for centuries, but have never been the object of pharmacological investigation down to the present time. Such results provide ideas for a selection of these species as potentially bioactive to be included in future pharmacological studies.