Anti-plasmodial activity of Norcaesalpin D and extracts of four medicinal plants used traditionally for treatment of malaria.

Background: Malaria is an old life-threatening parasitic disease that is still affecting many people, mainly children living in sub-Saharan Africa. Availability of effective antimalarial drugs played a significant role in the treatment and control of malaria. However, recent information on the emergence of P.

In vivo antimalarial activity of extracts of Tanzanian medicinal plants used for the treatment of malaria.

Plants used in traditional medicine have been the source of a number of currently used antimalarial medicines and continue to be a promising resource for the discovery of new classes of antimalarial compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo antimalarial activity of four plants; Erythrina schliebenii Harms, Holarrhena pubescens Buch-Ham, Phyllanthus nummulariifolius Poir, and Caesalpinia bonducella (L.) Flem used for treatment of malaria in Tanzania.

Screening of traditionally used plants for in vivo antimalarial activity in mice.

Aqueous ethanol (80%) extracts of six plants used traditionally for treatment of malaria, Vepris glomerata (F.Hoffm.) Engl (Rutaceae), Maranthus floribunda (Bak.

Antimicrobial activity and brine shrimp toxicity of extracts of Terminalia brownii roots and stem.

Background: Ternimalia 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.

Methods: Extraction of stem bark, wood and whole roots of T.

Anticonvulsant activity of Diospyros fischeri root extracts.

Diospyros fischeri Gurke (Ebenaceae) is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of epilepsy. Dichloromethane, ethylacetate, and ethanol extracts of the roots, at doses between 100 and 1600 mg/kg BW, inhibited convulsions induced by the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAa) receptor antagonist, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ), in a dose dependent manner. The extracts also exhibited low toxicity against brine shrimps giving LC(50) values between 45.

Brine shrimp toxicity evaluation of some Tanzanian plants used traditionally for the treatment of fungal infections.

Plants which are used by traditional healers in Tanzania have been evaluated to obtain preliminary data of their toxicity using the brine shrimps test. The results indicate that 9 out of 44 plant species whose extracts were tested exhibited high toxicity with LC(50) values below 20 microg/ml. These include Aloe lateritia Engl.

Anticonvulsant activity of extracts of Diospyros fischeri stem bark.

Evaluation of extracts of Diospyros fischeri Gurke (Ebenaceae), which is used traditionally for the treatment of epilepsy shows that the aqueous extract of the tem bark has no effect against picrotoxin induced convulsions in mice. However, an 80% ethanol extract of the bark caused dose-dependent suppression of convulsions induced by 10 mg/kg body wt picrotoxin, at doses between 100-3200 mg/kg body wt. Petroleum ether, 1:1 dichloromethane:methanol, and methanol extracts also suppressed picrotoxin-induced convulsions, but had a slightly lower inhibitory effect.