Safety And Efficacy Of Local Herbal Bitter.

They are bitter and medicinal.
Herbal bitters are enjoying great patronage in Nigeria.
There have been claims and counter claims on their
safety and efficacy. But a recent study has
validated the safety and efficacy of a
locally produced herbal bitters in reducing
the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

A NIGERIAN polyherbal drug, Leon Bitters,
prepared with Gongronema latifolium,
Cocos nucifera (coconut) roots and Parinari
curatellifolia seeds has shown promise in
reducing the risk of diabetes and heart
disease risk.
The study titled “Acute and sub-chronic
toxicity and antimicrobial evaluation on a
Nigeria herbal remedy, Leon Bitters ” was
published in Agriculture and Biology Journal
of North America. Leon Bitters was
formulated by Mrs. Laura Daniels and
produced by Herbal Fountain Nigeria
Limited.
The researchers led by Dr. Steve Ogbonna of
the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty
of Pharmacy, College of Medicine University
of Lagos, Idi-Araba, concluded: “The herbal
preparation though a non sterile aqueous
drug preparation had microbial
contamination within the standard
acceptable limit and could be considered
microbiologically safe for human
consumption.
“The study showed that the drug has some
hypoglycaemic (blood sugar lowering
effect) activity and good reducing effects
on cardiovascular factors. The study also
revealed that the drug at doses investigated
did not provoke toxic effects to the animals ’
liver, heart and kidney at high dose.”
Gongronema latifolium, commonly called
utazi and arokeke in the South Western and
South Eastern parts of Nigeria, is a tropical
rainforest plant primarily used as spice and
vegetable in traditional folk medicine.
Parinari curatellifolia belongs to the plant
family Chrysobalanaceae. In Nigeria, it is
called nawarre-baadi (monkey ’s plum) in
Fulani, bobwohi in Gwari, fara rura in Hausa,
odaubi in Idoma, ijak in Igala, mando in
Kanuri, kobenci the fruit and putu the tree
in Nupe, ibyua in Tiv, and abo idofun or
ebere in Yoruba.
The study by researchers from the
Departments of Pharmacognosy and
Pharmaceutical Technology and
Pharmaceutical Microbiology, University of
Lagos; Department of Anatomy, Olabisi
Onabanjo University. Ago-Iwoye, Ogun
State; and Federal College of Complementary
and Alternative Medicine, Ketu, Lagos,
evaluated acute and sub-chronic toxicities
in rodents and microbial purity of a
polyherbal preparation, Leon Bitters,
prepared with Gongronema latifolia
(climbing stem), Cocos nucifera (coconut)
roots and Parinari curatellifolia seeds.
Microbial purity was evaluated on some
bacterial and fungal organisms using
appropriate diagnostic media. Toxicity of
the polyherbal preparation was evaluated in
Swiss albino mice by administering to the
animals oral graded doses of the lyophilised
drug in the ranges of 1.0 g/kg to 20.0 g/kg
body weight and observed continuously
for the first four hours and hourly for the
next 12 hours, then six hourly for 56 hours
(72 hours, acute toxicity).
Wistar rats were also fed with different
doses of the lyophilised drug for 30 days
and the effects of the drug on some tissues
- heart, liver, kidney and testes - were
microscopically examined. Also the effects
on the biochemical and haematological
parameters were evaluated (sub-chronic
toxicity model). No zone of inhibition was
observed on either the bacterial culture
media or the fungal culture media.
The median acute toxicity value (LD50) of
the polyherbal medicine was determined to
be 7.2 g/kg body weight. No significant
increase in the body weight was observed
in the groups treated with the drug
compared to the control. There was
significant increase in creatinine level while
aspartate aminotransferases (AST) and
alanine aminotransferases (ALT) showed no
appreciable increase.
According to the researchers, the drug
significantly reduced (p?0.05) triglyceride
(TG) level while low density lipoprotein
(LDL)- ‘bad’cholesterol level was not altered,
but led to increase in high density
lipoprotein (HDL )–‘good’ cholesterol in the
treated groups compared to the control.
There was no significant change in the
mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean
corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean
corpuscular haemoglobin concentration
(MCHC) in all the treated animals compared
to the control.
“The study showed that the drug exhibited
hypolipidemic activity and good reducing
effects on cardiovascular factors. However,
a long -erm use may be harmful to the
testes, a male reproductive organ. ”
Other studies have validated the
antimicrobial, blood sugar and cholesterol
lowering effects of Gongronema latifolium,
coconut and Parinari curatellifolia. Reports
by various authors showed that it contains
essential oils, saponins and pregnanes
among others. It was reported that aqueous
and ethanolic G. latifolium extracts had
hypoglycemic (lowers blood sugar),
hypolipidemic (lowers blood cholesterol)
and antioxidative (reverses cell damage)
properties while other reports showed that
it has anti-inflammatory properties.
According to a study published in Journal of
Zhejiang University Science B titled
“ Chemical composition and antibacterial
activity of Gongronema latifolium”, aqueous
and methanol G. latifolium extracts were
tested against 13 pathogenic bacterial
isolates. Crude protein, lipid extract, ash,
crude fibre and nitrogen free extractives
obtained are: 27.2 per cent, 6.07 per cent,
11.6 per cent, 10.8 per cent and 44.3 per
cent dry matter respectively. Potassium,
sodium, calcium, phosphorus and cobalt
contents are 332, 110, 115, 125 and 116
mg/kg respectively.
“Dominant essential amino acids are leucine,
valine and phenylalanine. Aspartic acid,
glutamic acid and glycine are 13.8 per cent,
11.9 per cent and 10.3 per cent respectively
of total amino acid. Saturated and
unsaturated fatty acids are 50.2 per cent
and 39.4 per cent of the oil respectively.
Palmitic acid makes up 36 per cent of the
total fatty acid. ”
The study was by Afolabi F. Eleyinmi of the
Department of Agricultural, Food and
Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta,
Edmonton T6G 2P5, Canada; and Food
Science and Technology Department, Federal
University of Technology, Akure 34001,
Ondo State. It reads: “The test
microorganisms used for the antimicrobial
activity screening namely: Bacillus cereus
(ATCC 14579), Bacillus subtilis (ATCC 6051),
Escherichia coli (DH5), Enterobacter
aerogenes, Enterobacter agglomerans (ATCC
27155), Salmonella enteritidis (ATCC 13076),
Salmonella cholerasius ser typhimurium
(ATCC 23564), Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC
23235), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC
14207), S. aureus subsp aureus (ATCC 6538),
Enterobacter faecalis (ATCC 7080), Yersinia
enterolytica (ATCC 23715) and Listeria
monocytogenes (HBP 463).
The researchers further noted: “Extracts
show no activity against E. faecalis, Y.
enterolytica, E. aerogenes, B. cereus and E.
agglomerans. Methanol extracts were active
against S. enteritidis, S. cholerasius ser
typhimurium and P. aeruginosa (minimum
inhibitory concentration (MIC) 1 mg; zone of
growth inhibition 7, 6.5 and 7 mm
respectively). Aqueous extracts show
activity against E. coli (MIC 5 mg) and P.
aeruginosa (MIC 1 mg) while methanol
extracts are active against P. aeruginosa
and L. monocytogenes. G. latifolium has
potential food and antibacterial uses.”
The results of a study on the effect of
Gongronema latifolium extracts on serum
lipid profile and oxidative stress in
hepatocytes of diabetic rats confirmed that
the ethanolic extract of G. latifolium leaves
possessed antioxidant activity as shown by
increased superoxide dismutase and
glutathione peroxidase activities and
decreases in malondialdehyde levels.
The study led by Dr. N. H. Ugocukwu
concluded: “Lipid profile, which is altered in
the serum of diabetic patients, appears to
be a significant factor in the development
of premature atherosclerosis and includes
an increase in triglyceride and total
cholesterol levels. In this study, both
extracts significantly reduced the
triglyceride levels in treated diabetic rats
when compared to untreated diabetic rats.
“The ethanolic extract was also able to
significantly decrease the total cholesterol
concentration in treated diabetic rats when
compared to both untreated diabetic rats
and diabetic rats treated with the aqueous
extract. These reductions could be beneficial
in preventing diabetic complications as well
as improving lipid metabolism in diabetics.”
Several studies have shown that coconuts
may help benign prostatic hyperplasia. In
rats, virgin coconut oil reduced total
cholesterol, triglycerides, phospholipids,
Low Density Lipo-protein (LDL), and Very
Low Density Lipo-protein (VLDL) ‘bad’
cholesterol levels and increased High
Density Lipo-protein (HDL) ‘good’ cholesterol
in serum and tissues. The hexane fraction
of coconut peel may contain novel
anticancer compounds. Young coconut juice
has estrogen-like characteristics.
Inside a coconut is a cavity filled with
coconut water, which is sterile until opened.
It mixes easily with blood, and was used
during World War II in emergency
transfusions. It can also serve as an
emergency short-term intravenous
hydration fluid. This is possible because the
coconut water has a high level of sugar and
other salts that makes it possible to be used
in the bloodstream, much like the modern
lactated ringer solution or a dextrose/water
solution as an IV.
Coconut is also commonly used as a
traditional remedy in Pakistan to treat bites
from rats.[ In Brazil coconut is known as
coco-da-Bahia or coqueiro-da-India. The tea
from the husk fiber is widely used to treat
several inflammatory disorders.
According to a study on the Phytochemical
screening and antibacterial activity of
Parinari curatellifolia stem extract published
in the Journal of Medicinal Plants Research,
the aqueous and organic solvent extract of
the stem of Parinari curatelifolia were
screened for phytochemical and
antibacterial activity by hole in plate
bioassay procedure.
The bacterial activity of aqueous extract of
this plant was carried out against several
bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa,
Salmonella typhi, Klebsella spp, Bacillus
Subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus.
Phytochemical constituents present in the
extract were found to include saponins,
balsams, carbohydrate, alkaloids tannins,
cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, digitalis
glycosides, phenol, terpenes and steroids.
Water (w) fraction at 2.8 g/100 ml showed
significant (P < 0.05) inhibitory activity
against all the species of microorganism
tested in this study and most effective
against S. aureus and Klebsiella spp. (P <
0.05). Methanol Extract (ME) fraction at the
same concentration was effective (P < 0.05)
on B. subtilis and P. aeruginosa. Diethyl and
n- hexane extract did not show any
antimicrobial activity (P < 0.05). The results
show that different solvent extracts of
same plant may have different
pharmacological properties.