RESUMO
The emergence of multidrug bacterial resistance poses a great public health problem and requires a constant search for new antibacterial agents. However, Niger's flora possesses several medicinal plants used in traditional medicine to cure infectious diseases and can be used as sources of bioactive ingredients. This current study was designed to evaluate the antibacterial activity of eight plants used in the traditional pharmacopeia of Niger. The extracts were prepared by maceration using ethanol, methanol, and distilled water. The obtained extracts were screened against Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., and Escherichia coli using the microdilution method coupled with a resazurin-based assay. Phytochemical screening was performed using colorimetry, while the quantification of total polyphenols, total flavonoids, and total tannins was determined by spectrophotometry. Out of the eight plants obtained, five named Cassia italica, Limeum pterocarpum, Phyllanthus pentandrus, Strychnos innocua, and Ximenia americanum exhibited antibacterial activity with MICs ranging from 500 µg/mL to 2000 µg/mL. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, saponosides, tannins, flavonoids, terpenes/sterols, quinones, and polyphenols. The ethanolic and methanolic extracts of X. americana contained important quantities of total polyphenols, with 43.59 ± 0.15 and 41.97 ± 0.02 mg EAG/100 mg of extract, respectively. These extracts showed the highest contents of total tannins at 46.49 g/L and 45.52 g/L, respectively. For total flavonoids, the highest content was obtained with the methanolic extract of P. pentandrus, with 3.12 ± 0.01 mg QE/100 mg of extract. These findings justify the uses of these plants in traditional medicine for the treatment of infectious diseases such as diarrhea and can be used as starting points for the development of phytodrugs against infectious diarrhea.
RESUMO
Objective: To evaluate the antimalarial activity of the aqueous extract of Euphorbia (E.) cordifolia Elliot against Plasmodium (P.) berghei-infected mice. Methods: Thirty healthy Swiss mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with 200 μL of P. berghei parasitized-erythrocytes and divided into five groups, and then daily treated for 5 d with single dose of 10 mL/kg of distilled water for malaria control, 10 mg/kg of chloroquine for the chloroquine control and 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of the aqueous extract of E. cordifolia for the three test groups. Parasitaemia was monitored by Giemsa-staining. At the end of the treatment, animals were sacrificed, and blood was collected for haematological and biochemical analyses. Organs were collected for biochemical and histopathological analyses. Statistical significance (P<0.05) was evaluated by analysis of variance followed by the Tukey post-test using Graphpad prism 7.0. Results: E. cordifolia extract decreased the parasite load to 2.46%, with an effective dose (ED
