An ethnobotanical survey of indigenous flora for treating tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases in Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used locally for treating tuberculosis (TB) and other respiratory diseases was conducted from November 2004 to March 2005 in Niger State-Nigeria. The survey was aimed at identifying plants used in traditional medicine for treating TB and other pulmonary ailments in Niger State. Tuberculosis, cough, asthma, hemoptysis and bronchitis were the major ailments treated in this survey. The interviews were conducted among the traditional medical practitioners and herbal traders in both urban and rural areas of the state. It was observed that the use of traditional medicine for treating respiratory diseases was predominantly widespread in Niger State among all the ethnic groups and intertwines with orthodox medication. A total of 95 medicinal plants belonging to 48 families used in 86 herbal recipes were surveyed. In many recipes, admixtures of plants were used. A total of 12 different kinds of respiratory ailments were encountered in this study. The index of performance (Ip) was calculated for each plant species. The plants with high Ip are often confirmed to possess biologically active chemical substances in the literature. A good number of plants identified in this survey for treating tuberculosis with (Ip>O) have been reported to possess significant anti-tubercular activity. Therefore, further screening of those plants with high performance indices as sources of 'lead' for antitubercular agents is highly recommended.

Endothelium-independent and endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation by a dichloromethane fraction from <i>Anogeissus leiocarpus</i> (dc) <i>guill</i>. Et <i>Perr. (combretaceae)</i>: possible involvement of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase inhibition

“…(Combretaceae) is widely used for some of its properties such as pest-destroying (Okpekon et al 2004), trypanocides (Shuaibu et al 2008) and antifungal (Batawila et al 2005). Recently, antibacterial activity of terpenoidal fractions from A. leiocarpus have been shown (Mann et al, 2007). We have demonstrated an anti-HTA property of the aqueous extract of A. leiocarpus (Belemnaba, 2007., Ouédraogo et al, 2008).…”

Potency of extracts of selected plant species from Mbeere, Embu County-Kenya against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

“…It is believed that the answer to tuberculosis is hidden in the forest of the plant kingdom because this is one of the places where the untapped promise for treatment of infectious diseases lies. This is believed to be true especially in the context of developing countries where there is little or no access to modern health services (Mann et al, 2007;Idu et al, 2010). The current study builds upon previous efforts in prospecting for antituberculosis activities among some traditional plants used in Eastern and Southern Africa (Tabuti et al, 2009;Earl et al, 2010;Mariita et al, 2010a).…”

Isolation and Elucidation of Three Triterpenoids and Its<b> Antimycobacterial </b><b>Activty </b>of Terminalia Avicennioides

“…The shrub is known as 'kpace' in Nupe, 'kpayi' in Gwari, and 'baushe' in Hausa [6]. From the literature information this plant is reputed for several medicinal uses in Nigeria [7][8][9][10]. In recent times, there have been many preliminary phytochemical investigations of this plant to explore and exploit its pharmacological potentials.…”