ABSTRACT
Mitogenic activities in African traditional herbal medicines were examined on human peripheral blood lymphocytes and mouse spleen cells using protein fractions obtained from their extracts by precipitation with ammonium sulfate. Target specificity for these mitogens was investigated by using isolated T cells and lymphocytes from athymic nude mice. Among 20 plants investigated, potent mitogenic activities for both human and mouse lymphocytes were found in 7 plants: Monanthotaxis sp. (Annonaceae), Uvaria lucida (Annonaceae), Maytenus buchananii (Celastraceae), Lonchocarpus bussei (Leguminosae), Phytolacca dodecandra (Phytolaccaceae), Phytolacca octandra (Phytolaccaceae), and Toddalia asiatica (Rutaceae). The U. lucida stem demonstrated the highest activity among all and induced mitogenesis both in human and mouse isolated T cells, but not in lymphocytes from athymic nude mice.