Herbal cure for Tuberculosis

Can common plants bring a lasting solution to increasing cases
of tuberculosis (TB)? This is a question scientists are
looking into to see whether leaves used in the
community to treat this disease are actually effective.
Tuberculosis and leprosy are the most
common and most deadly infectious
diseases caused by Mycobacterium
tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae,
respectively. Globally, an increased number
of persons are contracting these germs that
cause tuberculosis. Worldwide, about 1.6
billion are infected with tuberculosis and
perhaps only 15 million end up with active
TB disease at any given time.
Although susceptibility to developing the
active TB disease may vary widely by
country, age, race, sex, and socioeconomic
status, however, its phenomenal increase is
due to weak immune system compromised
by stress, immunosuppressive drugs,
substance abuse, or HIV/AID. Meanwhile, the
problem of multi-drug resistant strains of
the germ causing TB has made the search
for more efficacious, safer, cheaper, and
more accessible drugs a priority.
The increasing cases of TB have, however,
informed scientists investigating medicinal
plants with folk reputation as effective
alternative therapies for treating TB. Two of
such plants are Anthocleista djalonensis and
Diospyros mespiliformis.
A. djalonensis is a medium-sized flowering
plant with grayish outer stem bark which is
green below. Previous studies showed that
the cold water and ethanol extract of the
roots may be effective against diseases
caused by Saphylococcus aureus and
Escherichia coli, some of which abscess, boil,
food poisoning and bladder infections.
The root decoction is also taken as a
remedy for chest pains for constipation,
dysentery, and other diseases that affect
the stomach. Aqueous extracts of the leaves
mixed with lemon juice is used by the Abros
of Ghana to cure epilepsy.
D. mespiliformis commonly called African
ebony or jackal tree is found growing in
woodlands, savannas and along river
banks. It has been shown to possess a
number of medicinal uses; the leaves are
used to treat fever, as wound dressings,
and as an antidote for a variety of
poisonous substances. The roots and bark
are used to treat diseases such as malaria,
syphilis, leprosy, and to stop purging. Its
usefulness as a dewormer and insecticide
has also been reported.
In an assessment of the effectiveness of
these plants against TB-causing germs,
Charles O. Esimone; Chukwuemeka S.
Nworu; Ebere B. Onuigbo; Justina U. Omeje;
Kelechi L. Nsirim; Joy C. Ogbu;, Maria I.
Ngwu; Kennedy F. Chah; and Ebere B.
Onuigbo, all from the University of Nigeria,
Nsuka, declared that the result of their
study supported the claims of efficacy
reported in the folk use of these plants in
treatment of infections like TB, and that the
plants could therefore be investigated
further and harnessed as potent anti-TB
treatment.
In the report documented in a 2009 issue of
the International Journal of Green
Pharmacy, they declared that only the
methanol extracts of A. djalonensis and D.
mespiliformis were effective against the
germs that cause TB, adding that its
effectiveness was quite comparable to
those of a standard anti-TB drug, isoniazide.
Since the use of combined anti-tuberculosis
drugs is believed to be very crucial in
overcoming the problems of multidrug
resistant (MDR) strains of mycobacteria,
their finding indicated that the
combinations of the root extracts of the
two plants at the ratio of 8:2 could be of
possible clinical benefit in the treatment of
tuberculosis infection.
Similarly, Spondias mombin, whose fruit is
called iyeye in the Yoruba language,
ngulungwu in Igbo and isada in Hausa, was
suggested as possible candidate for
developing new TB treatment by
researchers. This was contained in a study
carried out by Joseph A.O. Olugbuyiro from
Covenant University, Ota and Jones O.
Moody from the department of
Pharmacognosy, University of Ibadan in
collaboration with Mark T. Hamann from the
National Centre for Natural Products
Research, School of Pharmacy, The
University of Mississippi, U.S.A.
They wrote: “Our multi-drug resistant TB
screening of plant products from Nigeria
resulted in S. mombin with a high potency
in vitro (inside test tube) activity against
mycobacterium tuberculosis. The results
reveal S. mombin as a promising natural
product agent that can provide useful anti-
tuberculosis drugs.”
Spondias mombin is a tree widely cultivated
and naturalized in tropical Africa. The fruit is
golden-yellow, with thin, tough skin, and
medium-yellow, clinging to the white,
fibrous or “corky” stone. Ripe fruits are
eaten out-of-hand, or stewed with sugar.
The extracted juice is used to prepare ice
cream, cool beverages and jellies. Young
leaves are cooked as greens.
The fruit juice is drunk as a diuretic and
febrifuge. The decoction of the astringent
bark serves as an emetic, a remedy for
diarrhea, dysentery, hemorrhoids and a
treatment for gonorrhea and leucorrhea;
and, in Mexico, it is believed to expel
calcifications from the bladder. The
powdered bark is applied on wounds.
A tea of the flowers and leaves is taken to
relieve stomach ache, constipation, urinary
tract infection, cystitis and eye and throat
inflammation. The juice of crushed leaves
and the powder of dried leaves are used as
poultices on wounds and inflammations.
The gum is employed as an expectorant and
to expel tapeworms.