Why local chewing stick treats menstrual pain, wounds

THERE is a long and esteemed history of the
use of Prosopis Africanaas a chewing stick to
improve dental health and promote oral
hygiene in south western part of Nigeria.
But almost all parts of Prosopis Africana have
their medicinal uses ranging from dysentery,
malaria, sore throat to the relieve of bronchitis.
Prosopis Africana, commonly referred to as
kirya in Hausa, ayan in Yoruba), ubwo in
Igbo and sanchi in Nupe, is a shrub used for
menstrual and general body pain in Nupe
land in North central Nigeria. For instance, in
Mali, the leaves, bark, twigs and roots are
used to treat and relieve bronchitis,
dermatitis, tooth decay, dysentery, malaria
and stomach cramp.
Although many people might be skeptical
about the efficacy of Prosopis Africana in
the treatment of pains, including menstrual
pain, but this age long claim in Nupe is true
considering the findings of a study.
This was a 2010 study entitled “Analgesic
and Anti-inflammatory effects of the
methanol stem bark extract of Prosopis
Africana.”The study published in the... was
carried out by Lydia O. Ayanwuyi and
Olajumoke M. Abodunde, Department of
Pharmacology and Clinical pharmacy,
Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in
collaboration with Abdullahi H. Yaro from
the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of
Medicine, Bayero University, Kano.
In this study, the methanol extract of the
stem bark of Prosopis Africana at different
doses was evaluated for pain relieve and
anti-inflammatory activities in rats.
The researchers found that the pain
relieving effect of the methanol extract of
the stem bark of Prosopis Africana was
comparable to piroxicam, a standard drug
used for treatment of pain, thus supporting
the folkloric claim of the use of Prosopis
africana in the management of pain.
It has been reported that the root decoction
of P. africana is used to treat toothache in
Ghana and the bark and root used to treat
and relieve tooth decay in Mali. The
findings from a 2009 study that gave a
scientific basis for such traditional medicine
practices indicated both the stem and root
of the P. Africana as a potential candidate
plant parts in dentrifice production.
The researchers assessed the effectiveness
of the aqueous and ethanol extract of root
and stem of Prosopis africana against
disease-causing germs such as Candida
albicans, Streptococcus mutans and
Staphylococcus saprophyticus. They
reported in the World Journal of
Agricultural Sciences that these extracts
exhibited inhibitory effect on the growth of
these tested micro-organisms.
In Nigeria, the juice expressed from the
stem bark of P. Africana is applied on open
wounds as an astringent and to cleanse the
wound surface. The bark is also crushed to
a pulp and placed on the wound surface as
a dressing. Due to its use in wound
treatment in traditional medicine, scientists
evaluated the potentials of this plant as
wound care agent by studying effects of its
stem bark extract on different parameters
of wound care.
Adult Swiss albino rats and mice of either
sex bred were used for the study while
fresh stem bark of P. Africana were cut into
small pieces, dried under the sun and
reduced to coarse powder using a
mechanical blender before it was extracted
with methanol.
The study involved A. C. Ezike, P. A. Akah, C.
O. Okoli, S. Udegbunam, N. Okwume, C.
Okeke, and O. Iloani from the University of
Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State. It was part of
the 2010 publication of the Indian Journal
of Pharmaceutical Science.
The effects of the methanol extract of the P.
Africana on parameters of wound care
revealed its constituents has the ability to
arrest bleeding from fresh wounds, inhibit
the growth of bacterial wound
contaminants and accelerate wound healing
by enhancing the natural tissue growth and
repair processes for wound to heal in a
dose-related fashion.
However, the researchers suggested that
the achieved reduction in coagulation time
by the extract suggested that it was able to
stop bleeding from a wound by accelerating
the coagulation process.
Quite surprising was the finding that the
methanol extract stimulate mechanisms
associated with tissue regeneration far
better than neomycin-bacitracin, a
conventional medicine used for wound
dressing.
Microbial contamination poses a great
threat to timely and successful healing of
wounds. Unfortunately, wounds provide
environment conducive for the growth of
several germs such as Pseudomonas
aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus,
Streptococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and
Clostridium perfringens.
Their evaluation of the antimicrobial activity
showed that the methanol extract of P.
africana inhibited the growth of cultures of
these disease-casuing germs to varying
extents, so suggesting that it can be used to
protect wounds from contamination or
infections related to these germs.
Invariably, this would enhance wound
healing by allowing the natural tissue
growth and repair processes already
activated at the time of wound creation to
proceed unhindered.
They wrote, “The P. African methanol
extract may also provide the additional
benefit of accelerating the healing of
contaminated wounds by eradicating
already established infection by susceptible
microorganisms.”