Polyherbal Combinations Used by Traditional Health Practitioners against Mental Illnesses in Bamako, Mali, West Africa.

This study explores the traditional knowledge of plants used by traditional health practitioners (THPs) in the treatment of symptoms or syndromes related to mental illnesses in the district of Bamako in Mali, along with the identification of affiliated traditional treating methods. An exploratory and cross-sectional ethnopharmacological survey was conducted in the district of Bamako. The Malian Federation of Associations of Therapists and Herbalists (FEMATH) assisted in the identification and inclusion of the THPs.

Isolation, characterisation and complement fixation activity of acidic polysaccharides from used as antimalarials in Mali.

Context: Global studies on L. (Papaveraceae) traditionally used against malaria in Mali are limited to its low-mass compounds activities, and little information on its bioactive polysaccharides is available.

Objective: This study determines the structure and the immunomodulatory activity of polysaccharides from aerial parts of .

Ethnobotanical study of plants used against malaria in Sélingué subdistrict, Mali.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Plants have contributed to food security and disease treatments to rural populations in sub Saharan Africa for many centuries. These plants occupy a significant place in the treatment of diseases, such as malaria. In Mali, malaria is the leading cause of medical consultation and death.

Chromatographic immunoassays for Helicobacter pylori detection--are they reliable in Mali, West Africa?

Introduction: Gastrointestinal diseases are major reasons for morbidity in Mali. As Helicobacter pylori is known to play a major role in gastritis and gastric ulcer we wanted to find a simple method for detection.

Methods: Twenty-nine volunteers with confirmed gastric ulcer by gastroscopy and 59 randomly selected volunteers were diagnosed by using the rapid serological test Clearview(®) H.

Anti-ulcer polysaccharides from Cola cordifolia bark and leaves.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Aqueous extracts of bark and leaves of C. cordifolia are traditionally used in Mali (West Africa) in the treatment of wounds and gastric ailments like abdominal pain, gastritis and gastric ulcers.

Aim Of The Study: To evaluate and compare the anti-ulcer and immunological activities, as well as the toxicity of polysaccharide rich water extracts from the bark and leaves of C.

Terminalia macroptera, its current medicinal use and future perspectives.

The tree Terminalia macroptera (Combretaceae) is widespread in Western Africa, and in this area, different parts have been utilized in the treatment of various diseases. In this article, we report on the medicinal use of T. macroptera in three different districts in Mali (Siby, Dioïla and Dogonland), based on interviews with 78 healers in these districts.

15-Lipoxygenase inhibitory effects of prenylated flavonoids from Erythrina senegalensis.

One new pterocarpan (named erybraedin F) along with seven known prenylated flavonoids were isolated from the stem and root bark of the medicinal plant Erythrina senegalensis. The structures were elucidated by 1D and 2D NMR and MS. The pterocarpans were found to be strong inhibitors of 15-lipoxygenase.

Ethnopharmacological uses of Erythrina senegalensis: a comparison of three areas in Mali, and a link between traditional knowledge and modern biological science.

This paper describes ethnopharmacological knowledge on the uses of Erythrina senegalensis DC (Fabaceae) in traditional medicine in three different areas (Dioila, Kolokani and Koutiala) in Mali. Data were collected using interviews of traditional healers selected randomly. The main reported diseases for which E.

Polysaccharides with complement fixing and macrophage stimulation activity from Opilia celtidifolia, isolation and partial characterisation.

Aim Of The Study: The present study is aimed to determine the bioactivity and structure of polysaccharides present in the leaves from the Malian medicinal plant Opilia celtidifolia [Guill. & Perr. Endl.

Weak self-association in a carbohydrate system.

The physiological importance of weak interactions between biological macromolecules (molar dissociation constants >10 microM) is now well recognized, particularly with regard to cell adhesion and immunological phenomena, and many weak interactions have been measured for proteins. The concomitant importance of carbohydrate-carbohydrate interactions has also been identified, although no weak interaction between pure carbohydrate systems has ever been measured. We now demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge using a powerful probe for weak interactions--sedimentation velocity in the analytical ultracentrifuge--that at least some carbohydrates (from the class of polysaccharides known as heteroxylans and demonstrated here to be biologically active) can show well-defined weak self-interactions of the "monomer-dimer" type frequently found in protein systems.

Structural characterisation of novel lichen heteroglycans by NMR spectroscopy and methylation analysis.

Two galactofuranomannans, Ths-4 and Ths-5, were isolated from the lichen, Thamnolia vermicularis var. subuliformis, using ethanol fractionation and anion-exchange and size-exclusion chromatography. The average molecular weights of Ths-4 and Ths-5 were estimated to be 19 and 200 kDa, respectively.

Ethnopharmacological survey of different uses of seven medicinal plants from Mali, (West Africa) in the regions Doila, Kolokani and Siby.

An ethnopharmacological survey was carried out to collect information on the use of seven medicinal plants in rural areas in the nearby regions of Bamako, Mali. The plants were Opilia celtidifolia, Anthocleista djalonensis, Erythrina senegalensis, Heliotropium indicum, Trichilia emetica, Piliostigma thonningii and Cochlospermum tinctorium. About 50 medical indications were reported for the use of these plants in traditional medicine.