Medicinal plants used in Gabon for prophylaxis and treatment against COVID-19-related symptoms: an ethnobotanical survey.

Gabon faced COVID-19 with more than 49,000 individuals tested positive and 307 recorded fatalities since the first reported case in 2020. A popular hypothesis is that the low rate of cases and deaths in the country was attributed to the use of medicinal plants in prevention and treatment. This study aimed to document the plants used for remedial and preventive therapies by the Gabonese population during the COVID-19 pandemic and to pinpoint specific potential plant species that merit further investigation.

Could pooled samples method affect SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis accuracy using BGI and Sansure-Biotech RT-PCR kits used in Gabon, Central Africa?

This study aims at establishing specimens pooling approach for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 using the RT-PCR BGI and Sansure-Biotech kits used in Gabon. To validate this approach, 14 positive samples, stored at -20°C for three to five weeks were analyzed individually (as gold standard) and in pools of five, eight and ten in the same plate. We created 14 pools of 5, 8 and 10 samples using 40 μL from each of the selected positive samples mixed with 4, 7 and 9 confirmed negative counterparts in a total volume of 200 μL, 320 μL and 400 μL for the pools of 5, 8 and 10 respectively.

Toxicity studies of medicinal plants used in sub-Saharan Africa.

In sub-Saharan Africa, traditional medicine is widely used in rural and urban areas also. This is essentially due to the prohibitive cost of pharmaceutical-based medicine and the low incomes of a major part of the population. In addition, the efficacies of many of these traditional and plant-based medicines are proven, but the fact remains that certain plants used in traditional medicine have toxic effects.

Study of pharmacological properties of the methanolic extract of Dichrostachys cinerea bark (L.) Wight et Arn (Leguminosae) in isolated myometrium from pregnant rats.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The use of medicinal plants in Gabon contributes widely to the primary health care of the people of this area of Central Africa. This paper investigates the pharmacological properties of Dichrostachys cinerea, the plant barks are traditionally used by Gabonese and Ivorian populations to treat bronchial asthma, rheumatism, and other various diseases. Although D.