Abstract
Envenomation is a serious public health and occupational hazard in tropical and subtropical countries. Antivenom serum treatment has been related to extreme hypersensitivity, high cost, and inaccessibility. Consequently, therapeutic plants have been investigated to give an alternative treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of the methanolic extract and fractions of Tamarindus indica seeds to neutralize the hemolytic, anticoagulant and hemorrhagic activities of Bitis arietans venom. The powdered form of Tamarindus indica seed was extracted using methanol. The methanol extract was further fractionated using butanol solvent. The aqueous fraction of the methanolic extract inhibited hemolysis caused by crude venom by 95.5%, while methanolic extract significantly reduced the anticoagulant time of crude venom to 10.2%. The in vivo hemorrhagic activity of the crude venom of Bitis arietans was neutralized by both the crude methanolic extract and the subsequent two fractions of Tamarindus indica seed. However, the crude methanolic extract was found to be the most active by reducing the hemorrhage diameter caused by crude venom to 39%. The findings of this present research work demonstrated a very good antivenom properties of the seeds of Tamarindus indica, which suggests that it could be a potential source of effective, and safe compounds with inhibitory activities against Bitis arietans envenomation.
Highlights
Snakebite is an important public health and occupational hazard often faced by farmers, farm laborers, hunters and nomads of tropical and subtropical countries present in Asia, Africa and South America [1]
-1 concentration of 10 mgml the crude methanolic extract, butanolic fraction and aqueous fraction of T. indica seed incubated with 5mgml-1 of crude B. arietans venom significantly reduced hemolysis of RBC to 8.1%±2.51, 11.7%±2.84 and 4.5%±2.62 respectively
Methanolic extract and butanolic fraction significantly reduced the anticoagulant time to 16.70±1.88%, 10.21±0.62% and 47.53±1.61% respectively at 10 mgml-1 concentration
Summary
Snakebite is an important public health and occupational hazard often faced by farmers, farm laborers, hunters and nomads of tropical and subtropical countries present in Asia, Africa and South America [1]. Approximately 5.4 million snakebites occur each year, resulting in 1.8 to 2.7 million cases of envenomings, with mortality ranging from 81 410 to 137 880 deaths and around three times as many amputations and other permanent disabilities each year [2,3]. The extent of snakebite globally, resulted the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of snakebite as a neglected tropical disease in 2009. It was removed in 2013, and re-declared as category A on the 9th of June 2017 [4]. Inadequate facilities at the primary health center (PHC), ignorance of conventional treatment of snakebite by medical doctors; further delays inappropriate treatment of victims leads to increased morbidity and mortality [6]. Medicinal plants are rich sources of natural inhibitors that tend to reduce the pharmacological activities of various snake venom without resulting to any side effects [8]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Journal of Advances in Biology & Biotechnology
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
