Moringa oleifera is traditionally used for treatment of diarrhea, diabetes mellitus, rheumatism, venomous bites, for cardiac stimulation and as a diuretic. The aim of this study was to investigate the hypoglycaemic and antioxidant activity of M. oleifera root in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The root was extracted with n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol successively using soxhlet apparatus. All the extracts were subjected to phytochemical screening and toxicity study. The powder and methanol extracts were subjected to anti-diabetic evaluation using alloxaninduced diabetes in rats for 28 days. Glibenclamide was used as standard drug. The anti-diabetic effect of the extract was evaluated by measuring changes in blood glucose level, haematological indices, biochemical parameters, oxidative stress biomarkers and pancreatic tissue. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, carbohydrate, cardiac glycosides and saponins. LD50 was above 5000 mg/kg and did not cause mortality in all the tested rats. Both the methanol extract and powdered root showed significant reduction (p<0.05) in blood glucose level after treatment. Also, the concentrations of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) increased significantly (p<0.05) as compared with the diabetic control. Histopathological examination of the pancreas from diabetic rats showed degenerative changes in β-cells. In the treatment groups, there was a significant reversal to the damage done to the islet of Langerhans. This study has shown that M. oleifera root possesses hypoglycaemic effect and ameliorates other adverse diabetic conditions imposed by alloxan-induced diabetes on the experimental rats.

Allophylus africanus leaves have anti-inflammatory activity which explains the basis of its use in traditional medicine in the management of inflammation but caution is required due to its slight toxic effects. This knowledge can be tapped to formulate new agents to treat inflammatory and related inflammatory disorders.

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Cancer is a major leading cause of death in the world today. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in 140 countries. The widespread use of medicinal plants is not limited to the developing countries, there’s a renewed interest by the public and scientific organisations concerning plants and cure for diseases. The increasing cost of modern health care has made the role of ethnomedicine a very important one. A majority of the Nigerian population use traditional medicine for relief from various ailments largely due to inadequate medical facilities, high poverty rate and many other socio‐ economic/ socio‐ cultural factors. Local herbalists claim the possession of remedies useful in curing different cancer types. However, such knowledge is secretive and kept within close family circle. This work is aimed at providing an inventory of North East Nigerian plants with anti‐ breast cancer potentials for future verification and scientific validation. Semi‐structured questionnaire and oral interview were used to obtain relevant ethnomedicinal data. Twenty five different plant species were identified to possess possible anti‐ breast cancer potentials. Plant names, family, part used, relevant pharmacologic activities and pictures of plants were documented.