Clinical Evaluation of the Safety and Effectiveness of Heptonica: A Ghanaian Hepatorestorative Polyherbal Product.

The incidence of liver diseases is increasing globally, and many patients in developing countries are resorting to the use of herbal products as treatment. This study was aimed at establishing the safety and effectiveness outcomes for patients with deranged liver panel treated with a Ghanaian finished polyherbal product. The product Heptonica is prepared by CPMR from three medicinal plants: Bidens pilosa, Citrus aurantifolia, and Trema orientalis. Fifty (50) participants with clinical and biochemical signs of liver impairment were purposively recruited and treated for a period of 28 days. Participants received Heptonica at a dose of 30 mL 8 hourly after meals for the treatment period. Clinical and biochemical evaluation (liver panel test, renal function test, haematology, and urinalysis) of subjects for the safety and effectiveness of the product was undertaken at days 0 (baseline), 14, and 28. Compared to the baseline values, Heptonica did not have any untoward effect on renal function, haematological parameters, and urine parameters of subjects. Clinical and liver panel results of the participants also improved compared to the baseline: serum aspartate transaminase (AST) (p < 0.0001), alanine transaminase (ALT) (p < 0.0001), gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) (p- 0.0013), total bilirubin (p-0.0136), direct bilirubin (p < 0.0001), total proteins (p-0.0409), and alkaline phosphates (p- 0.0284). Level of albumin showed no significant difference within the study period. The outcome of this study indicates Heptonica has hepatorestorative action with no observable toxicity and can be used with confidence as indicated as a liver tonic.

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of the leaves of Wissadula amplissima var Rostrata.

The present study determined the anti-inflammatory activity of Wissadula amplissima var rostrata (Schum. & Thonn.), and calculated the total phenolic content and total antioxidant capacity of the plant in an attempt to justify the traditional uses of the plant in the Ashanti region of Ghana for the management of spider,wasps and bee stings. Powdered dried leaves of Wissadula amplissima were Soxhlet extracted with Petroleum Ether (PWA, yield: 1.46% (w)/(w)); Chloroform (CWA, yield: 1.18% (w)/(w)) and Methanol (MWA, yield: 3.39% (w)/(w)). These fractions were tested for anti-inflammatory activity using carrageenan-induced foot edema in 7 day old chicks. The effect before the induction of inflammation (pre-emptive protocol) paradigm was used for the assessment. Oral administration of PWA, CWA and MWA (30 - 300 mg/kg) dose dependently reduced edema with maximal effects of 68.25±2.03%, 77.83±0.81% and 62.21±2.61% respectively. Similarly the NSAID, Diclofenac (10 - 100 mg/Kg, i.p) and the steroidal anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone (0.3 - 3 mg/Kg, i.p) used as positive controls, dose-dependently inhibited the edema with maximal effect of 87.96±1.11% and 67.47±3.51% respectively. The potencies exhibited by all three extracts were comparable to that shown by Diclofenac but higher than that of Dexamethasone. Phenols were detected in all three extracts with the highest concentration in the MWA. The extracts also scavenged DPPH with EC(50) values of 0.9784, 0.9096 and 0.2767 for PWA, CWA, MWA respectively. The results of this study give scientific credence to the local use of Wissadula amplissima to modulate inflammation induced by stings of animals.

Antimicrobial activity of essential oils of Xylopia aethiopica.

Xylopia aethiopica is a medicinal plant of great repute in West Africa which produces a variety of complex chemical compounds. The fresh and dried fruits, leaf, stem bark and root bark essential oils showed various degrees of activity against the gram positive bacteria, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, the gram negative bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the yeast-like fungus Candida albicans, using the cup plate method. However, none of the oils showed activity against Escherichia coli.

In vitro tests and ethnopharmacological investigations: wound healing as an example.

In vitro tests are now widely employed in ethnopharmacological research because of ethical reasons and their usefulness in bioactive-guided fractionation and determination of active compounds. For many disease conditions, a variety of in vitro tests can now be employed as the biochemical mechanisms underlying disease and healing processes are understood. Approaches to the in vitro investigations of wound healing processes are exemplified by studies on extracts of Buddleja species and three Ghanaian species Spathodea campanulata, Commelina diffusa and Secamone afzelii. Most studies have been carried out on Buddleja officinalis or Buddleja globosa. The extracts have been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties due to flavonoids, triterpenoids, diterpenoids and caffeic acid derivatives. There appears to a slight effect on proliferation of fibroblasts at lower concentrations, but this was not significant, and higher concentrations appeared to be cytotoxic. Novel findings are the ability of Buddleja globosa leaf extracts to induce differentiation in keratinocytes and to alter the profile of proteins produced by cultured fibroblasts. Extracts also had some effect on lattice contraction. The three Ghanaian species examined show a mixture of antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The evolution over recent years of tests for wound healing, from in vivo tests to cell-based systems and chemical reactions and on to investigations into effects on secondary messengers and protein expression, is described.

Evaluation of the antioxidant and free radical scavenging properties of Secamone afzelii Rhoem.

The antioxidant activity of a methanol extract of Secamone afzelii stems was tested using the DPPH assay and the active compound was identified as alpha-tocopherol. HPLC determination showed that 0.12% w/w alpha-tocopherol was present in the plant. The total extract also showed effective free radical scavenging activity in the assay for non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation in liposomes with an IC50 value of 90 microg/mL, with alpha-tocopherol isolated from the plant having an IC50 of 15 microg/mL in the same system, thus demonstrating the presence of other antioxidants.

Effects of Buddleja globosa leaf and its constituents relevant to wound healing.

An aqueous extract of Buddleja globosa leaves, used traditionally in Chile for wound healing, was tested for the ability to stimulate growth of fibroblasts in vitro and for antioxidant activity in the same fibroblast cell system challenged with hydrogen peroxide. Low concentrations of the extract gave an increase in fibroblast growth which was not statistically significant but cytotoxicity was observed at concentrations greater than 50 microg/ml. The extract showed strong antioxidant effect and fractionation led to the isolation of three flavonoids and two caffeic acid derivatives, each of which was shown to contribute to the antioxidant effect at concentrations below 10 microg/ml. These activities would accelerate the healing of wounds.

Known and novel terpenes from Buddleja globosa displaying selective antifungal activity against dermatophytes.

Lipophilic extracts of the stembark of Buddleja globosa were found to have antifungal activity at 125 microg/mL against three dermatophytic fungal species but had no activity at 1000 microg/mL against four other fungal species or two yeast species. Bioassay-guided fractionation of Si gel column eluates using the sensitive fungal species resulted in active fractions from which were isolated five compounds that were characterized by spectroscopic methods as one novel and four known compounds. The known compounds were the diterpene buddlejone (1), the bisditerpene maytenone, and the two sesquiterpenes buddledin A and buddledin B, while the novel compound was characterized as the diterpene deoxybuddlejone (2). The minimum inhibitory concentration of all the compounds was determined against all the microorganisms under test, and buddledins A and B were shown to exhibit the greatest antifungal activity, with values of 43 microM and 51 microM, respectively, against the sensitive fungi Trichophyton rubrum, Tricophyton interdigitale, and Epidermophyton floccosum.