Mango bark, bitter leaf potentpneumonia cure

While the battle between man and microbes continues, starting with the defeat suffered by Penicillin to the emergence of other new generation antibiotics, researchers
working on alternative antibiotics for diseases such as pneumonia have found candidates antibiotics in common herbs as bitter leave.
In a study that assessed the potency of
ethanolic extracts of six commonly used
medicinal plants (by traditional medicine
practitioners in Uyo and Ikot-Ekpene),
researchers found that nature was rich in
potent cures for different multiple drug
resistant organisms that cause gonorrhea,
pneumonia, diarrhoea and Staphylococcus
aureus.
Herbs tested were Vernonia amygdalina
(Bitter leaf or Ewuro in Yoruba), Ocimum
gratissimum (Efinrin in Yoruba, Aai doya ta
gida in Hausa and Nchonwu in Igbo), Smilax
anceps (“Odufad”), Holarrhena floribunda
(“Bokin-mutin, Hausa in Hausa and irena in
Yoruba), Parkia biglobosa (Epo igba in
Yoruba), and Khaya senegalensis (Ogawo in
Yoruba).
The six plants were qualified to be called
medicinal plants by virtue of the fact that
they have been in therapeutic use against
various diseases like parasitic infection,
urinary tract infection, syphilis, pneumonia
and enteric fever as well as other venereal
diseases like gonorrhea, for over one
hundred years.
The 2008 study, which was carried out by
Adebayo-Tayo, B. C. and Adegoke, A. A. from
the Department of Microbiology, University
of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State, found that
the crude extracts of the tested plants
showed variable degrees of antimicrobial
activities against the tested organisms.
In their report documented in the Journal of
Medicinal Plants Research, they declared that
the variable potency of these extracts
provided a rational for the traditional use of
these plants for the treatment of infectious
diseases such as pneumonia.
In addition, research into the antimicrobial
activity of the stem of mango tree in the
management of infectious diseases
including respiratory tract infections such
as whooping cough, tuberculosis,
pneumonia, bacterial pharyngitis/tonsillitis,
asthma amongst others, found it could be
used as a source of broad spectrum oral
antibiotic to fight these diseases.
The mango, cultivated in many tropical
regions, has many medicinal uses. Its leaf
decoction is taken as a remedy for diarrhea,
hemorrhages and bleeding hemorrhoids,
fever, chest complaints, diabetes,
hypertension and other illnesses.
The bark is employed against rheumatism
and diphtheria in India. The resinous gum
from the trunk is applied on cracks in the
skin of the feet to treat scabies.
In Nigeria, different parts mango tree are
commonly used as herbal preparations in
the treatment of tooth ache, gastrointestinal
disorders, dysentery, diarrhea,
gastrointestinal tract infections, respiratory
and urinary tract infections, sore-gums and
sore throats.
Dr El-Mahmood Muhammad Abubakar from
the Federal University of Technology, Yola,
in a study entitled, “Antibacterial efficacy of
stem bark extracts of Mangifera indica
against some bacteria associated with
respiratory tract infections” corroborated
the potency of extract from mango tree
bark in the prevention of pneumonia.
The researcher, in this 2009 study
published in the Scientific Research and
Essay found that at a concentration of 50
mg/ml, the crude extracts inhibited the
growth of all the respiratory tract
pathogens, though with varying degrees of
susceptibility depending on the bacterium
and the extracting solvent.
According to the researcher, “The ability of
the crude extracts to inhibit the growth of
such pathogenic bacteria (disease-causing
germs) as those used in this study is an
indication that M. indica is a medicinal plant
and can be used as a source for developing
broad spectrum antibiotics, which further
validates its use in traditional herbal
medicine to treat a variety of infections
including those associated with respiratory
tract infections. The observed antibacterial
activity of the crude extracts suggests that
it may play a dual role in medicine and food
systems, where it can be used as
preservative.”
They attributed the finding that the ethanol
extract of mango bark inhibited the growth
of K. pnuemoniae, the major germ that
causes pneumonia, significantly to its
tannin content. According to them, “herbs
that have tannins as their main component
are astringent in nature and are used for
treating asthma, pneumonia, and dysentery,
thus justifying the use of the plant (mango)
in traditional medicine practice.”
Similarly, another plant that researchers
found potent against germs that cause
pneumonia is Croton zambesicus. While
carrying out a phytochemical screening and
in vitro antimicrobial investigation of the
methanolic extract of Croton Zambesicus, F.I.
Abdulrahman, J.C.Akan, H. Usman and
O.A.Sodipo from the University of
Maiduguri, Borno State in collaboration with
Reuben, K.D from Adamawa State College of
Agriculture, substantiated the use of Croton
zambesicus in the folkloric medicine for
many disease causing germs and previous
studies that stated that it posses weak
activity against the germ that causes
pneumonia. This was published in the 2008
edition of European Journal of Scientific
Research.
Croton zambesicus is commonly known as
Koriba or Icen maser in Hausa, Aje kokofole
in Yoruba, Mfam in Ekoi and “moramora” in
kilba. This is a shrub, often branching low
down with a spreading crown and
characteristic hanging leaves and silvery
beneath and with whitish to pale grayish
bark. It is an ornamental tree grown in
villages and towns of Nigeria. The leaf
decoction is used in Benin as
antihypertensive and antimicrobial (urinary
infections).
In a study to provide validity for the use of
this plant in African traditional medicine and
create new frontiers on the current
application of the plant to diseases caused
by germs, researchers from Adamawa State
College of Agriculture, Mubi, and the
Department of Chemistry, University of
Maiduguri, Maiduguri, found out that it was
rich in chemical substances that effectively
fight common germs that causes stomach,
urinary tract and fungal infections.
The study, which was documented in the
2009 issue of the Journal of Applied
Sciences Research, was carried out by Drs.
F.I. Abdulrahman, J.C.Akan and G.O. Egwu
from the University of Maiduguri in
collaboration with Dr. K.D. F Reuben from
Adamawa State College of Agriculture, Mubi.
In the study, the researchers collected, dried
and then pulverized stem bark of the C.
zambesicus. Its chemical constituents were
later extracted with chemical liquids, and
tried out on bacterial and fungal micro-
organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus,
Streptococcus pyogenes, Shigella
dysenteriae, Escherichia coli, P. aeruginosa,
Proteus vulgaris and Candida albicans.
They wrote, ‘in view of the fact that
prevalence of S. aureus resistant strains to
conventional antibiotics has increased to
high levels in some Hospitals and that S.
aureus is a pyogenic bacterium known to
play significant role in invasive skin
diseases including boils, these extract
fractions could serve as a remedy to such
resistance within the local communities.”
The researchers, while corroborating the
folkloric use of this plant as a remedy for
stomachache, urinary tract infections and
skin disease, stated the need for further
studies to shed more light on the medicinal uses of the plant.