Abstract
Aims: This study has evaluated ethanol extracts from five medicinal plants selected through ethnobotanical study from Lake Victoria basin, Tanzania for their in vitro antimycobacterial activity against two Mycobacterium species and cytotoxicity against brine shrimp larvae. Study Design: Laboratory experimental tests. Place and Duration of Study: Institute of Traditional Medicine, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, P.O. Box 65001, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, between July 2010 and July 2011. Methodology: Five medicinal plants were selected from the priority list obtained from Lake Victoria basin, Tanzanian side. Collection, processing and drying of plant samples were done in the field with the assistance of a botanist while extraction and concentration of plant samples to obtain crude extracts were done in the laboratory following standard procedures. The plants included in this study are Antidesma membranaceum, Crassocephalum manii, Entada abyssinica, Croton dichogamus and Rubia cordifolia. The two fold microdilution method was used to determine the MIC values of extracts against Research Article European Journal of Medicinal Plants, 2(2): 125-131, 2012 126 two Mycobacterium marker strains (Mycobacterium indicus pranii and Mycobacterium madagascariense). The cytotoxicity of plant extract was evaluated against brine shrimp larvae. Furthermore, the extracts were screened phytochemicaly to establish the group of compounds responsible for the activity. Results: Among the tested extracts, the stem bark of A. membranaceum and C. manii showed moderate to mild activity against M. indicus pranii (MIC = 0.3125 mg/ml) and M. madagascariense (MIC = 0.625 mg/ml) respectively. Furthermore, A. membranaceum exhibited significant toxicity activity with LC50 value of 36.134 μg/ml against brine shrimp larvae. Other plants were moderately active when tested in vitro against the above organisms. Phytochemical screening of extracts indicated the presence of different classes of compounds. Conclusion: This study has shown the potential of the priority medicinal plant extracts to be the source of possible lead compounds and anti‐TB drug candidates needed for the management of Tuberculosis. Isolation of active principles from active fractions will be further undertaken.
Highlights
Tuberculosis (TB) is the global health disaster which have killed but disabled millions of people in their prime productive life
This study has shown the potential of the priority medicinal plant extracts to be the source of possible lead compounds and anti‐TB drug candidates needed for the management of Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis is caused by a micro-organism of the genus Mycobacterium, with its effect being compounded by the development of resistance to available antibiotics and by the emergence of HIV/AIDS and the associated opportunistic infections
Summary
Tuberculosis (TB) is the global health disaster which have killed but disabled millions of people in their prime productive life. Tuberculosis is caused by a micro-organism of the genus Mycobacterium, with its effect being compounded by the development of resistance to available antibiotics and by the emergence of HIV/AIDS and the associated opportunistic infections. Further estimates by WHO indicated that two billion peoples or one third of the world's population are infected with M. tuberculosis (M. tb), the bacillus that causes the disease (USAID, 2010). The spread of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis necessitates the discovery of new classes of antibacterials and compounds that inhibit macromolecules involved in these resistant mechanisms (Chimponda et al, 2010). In the East African region, many lists of plants used to treat TB exist. This includes work by Tabuti et al (2003). The main objective of this study was to determine the anti-mycobacterial and cytotoxic efficacy of ethanolic extracts of the priority medicinal plants from Lake Victoria basin, Tanzania
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