Antiplasmodial activity of Mezoneuron benthamianum leaves and identification of its active constituents.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Decoctions of the leaves of M. benthamianum Baill. are used by traditional healers in Guinea to treat malaria and this use was validated by a preliminary clinical assay.

Unusual amino acids and monofluoroacetate from Dichapetalum michelsonii (Umutambasha), a toxic plant from Rwanda.

In the course of our investigations on Umutambasha in order to identify its convulsant principles, small quantities of monofluoroacetate were observed in stem bark, leaves, and fruits of this plant newly identified as Dichapetalum michelsonii Hauman. Conclusive evidence for a monofluoroacetate presence came from its isolation from the freeze-dried extract of stem bark. Three free unusual amino acids, named N-methyl-α-alanine, N-methyl-β-alanine, and 2,7-diaminooctan-1,8-dioic acid, described for the first time in a plant, and known trigonelline were also isolated from the stem bark of D.

Characterization of the neurotoxicity induced by the extract of Magnistipula butayei (Chrysobalanaceae) in rat: effects of a new natural convulsive agent.

This study was designed to document convulsant and neurotoxic properties of extracts of a tropical tree, Magnistipula butayei subsp. Montana, and to investigate the involvement of the glutamatergic system in these effects. Continuous behavioral observations and electroencephalographic (EEG) records were obtained after per os administration of an aqueous extract of Magnistipula (MBMAE) in rats.

Validation of a high-performance thin-layer chromatography/densitometry method for the quantitative determination of glucosamine in a herbal dietary supplement.

A quantitative densitometric high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was developed for the determination of glucosamine in a dietary supplement containing dried extracts of the main plants traditionally used for rheumatic disorders. The HPTLC method was chosen in order to circumvent the tedious and time-consuming sample preparation steps necessarily performed before using HPLC methods when analysing complex matrixes. Glucosamine was separated from the plant extracts on a silica gel 60 F(254) HPTLC plate using a saturated mixture of 2-propanol-ethyl acetate-ammonia solution (8%) (10:10:10, v/v/v).

Chemical and biological investigations of a toxic plant from Central Africa, Magnistipula butayei subsp. montana.

Magnistipula butayei subsp. montana (Chrysobalanaceae) is known, in the Great Lakes Region, to possess toxicological properties. In this paper, we investigated the acute toxicity (dose levels 50-1600 mg/kg) of its aqueous extract, administered orally to adult Wistar rats.