Effects Of Maytenus senegalensis (L) and Cassia alata (L) Extracts on the Liver Enzymes of Albino Rats, Infected with Schistosomes Cercariae

This reaearch aim was to evaluate some liver enzymes of albino rats subjected to administration of methanol and water extracts of Maytenus senegalensis and Cassia alata after infection with schistosome cercariae. As curative agents, the extracts were well tolerated by rats. The total protein (69.0-77.9g/l and 71.8- 79.1g/l) for methanolic extracts of and (64.3-74.3g/l and 70.3- 77.5g/l) for water extracts for M. senegalensis and C. alata respectively. The Alkaline phosphate values range from (145-226iu/l and 189-207iu/l) for methanol and (143-234iu/l and195-207iu/l) for water as for M. senegalensis and C. alata extracts. The Aspartate aminotransferase values were (7.7-8.7iu/l) for M. senegalensis and (8.0- 8.6iu/l) for C. alata with methanol extraxts and (7.1-8.8iu/l) for M. senegalensis and (8.4-8.9iu/) for C. alata water extracts. The Alkaline aminotransferase values range from (5.1-6.3iu/l) for M. senegalensis and (3.5-6.4iu/l) for C. alata in methanol and (4.2-6.3iu/l) for M. senegalensis and (4.1-6.4iu/l for C. alata with water extracts. The Total Bilirubin values of both methanol and water extracts for M. senegalensis (6.3-18.9μm/l) and (9.0-12.7μm/l) for C. alata and (4.2-6.3μm/l) for M. senegalensis and (4.1-6.4μm/l) for C. alata respectively were all within the normal values. This indicates that all these extracts were well tolerated. However the 9g/kg body weight of the water leaf extracts, although having normal values were toxic to other organs such as the lungs.

Antiplasmodial, antimalarial activities and toxicity of African medicinal plants: a systematic review of literature

Background Malaria still constitutes a major public health menace, especially in tropical and subtropical countries. Close to half a million people mainly children in Africa, die every year from the disease. With the rising resistance to frontline drugs (artemisinin-based combinations), there is a need to accelerate the discovery and development of newer anti-malarial drugs. A systematic review was conducted to identify the African medicinal plants with significant antiplasmodial and/or anti-malarial activity, toxicity, as wells as assessing the variation in their activity between study designs (in vitro and in vivo). Methods Key health-related databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, PubMed Central, and Science Direct were searched for relevant literature on the antiplasmodial and anti-malarial activities of African medicinal plants. Results In total, 200 research articles were identified, a majority of which were studies conducted in Nigeria. The selected research articles constituted 722 independent experiments evaluating 502 plant species. Of the 722 studies, 81.9%, 12.4%, and 5.5% were in vitro, in vivo, and combined in vitro and in vivo, respectively. The most frequently investigated plant species were Azadirachta indica, Zanthoxylum chalybeum, Picrilima nitida, and Nauclea latifolia meanwhile Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Annonaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Meliaceae, and Lamiaceae were the most frequently investigated plant families. Overall, 248 (34.3%), 241 (33.4%), and 233 (32.3%) of the studies reported very good, good, and moderate activity, respectively. Alchornea cordifolia, Flueggea virosa, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, Zanthoxylum chalybeum, and Maytenus senegalensis gave consistently very good activity across the different studies. In all, only 31 (4.3%) of studies involved pure compounds and these had significantly (p = 0.044) higher antiplasmodial activity relative to crude extracts. Out of the 198 plant species tested for toxicity, 52 (26.3%) demonstrated some degree of toxicity, with toxicity most frequently reported with Azadirachta indica and Vernonia amygdalina. These species were equally the most frequently inactive plants reported. The leaves were the most frequently reported toxic part of plants used. Furthermore, toxicity was observed to decrease with increasing antiplasmodial activity. Conclusions Although there are many indigenous plants with considerable antiplasmodial and anti-malarial activity, the progress in the development of new anti-malarial drugs from African medicinal plants is still slothful, with only one clinical trial with Cochlospermum planchonii (Bixaceae) conducted to date. There is, therefore, the need to scale up anti-malarial drug discovery in the African region.

The Relict Ecosystem of Maytenus senegalensis subsp. europaea in an Agricultural Landscape: Past, Present and Future Scenarios

Maytenus senegalensis subsp. europaea is a shrub belonging to the Celastraceae family, whose only European populations are distributed discontinuously along the south-eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, forming plant communities with great ecological value, unique in Europe. As it is an endangered species that makes up plant communities with great palaeoecological significance, the development of species distribution models is of major interest under different climatic scenarios, past, present and future, based on the fact that the climate could play a relevant role in the distribution of this species, as well as in the conformation of the communities in which it is integrated. Palaeoecological models were generated for the Maximum Interglacial, Last Maximum Glacial and Middle Holocene periods. The results obtained showed that the widest distribution of this species, and the maximum suitability of its habitat, occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum, when the temperatures of the peninsular southeast were not as contrasting as those of the rest of the European continent and were favored by higher rainfall. Under these conditions, large territories could act as shelters during the glacial period, a hypothesis reflected in the model’s results for this period, which exhibit a further expansion of M. europaea’s ecological niche. The future projection of models in around 2070, for four Representative Concentration Pathways according to the fifth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, showed that the most favorable areas for this species would be Campo de Dalías (southern portion of Almería province) as it presents the bioclimatic characteristics of greater adjustment to M. europaea’s ecological niche model. Currently, some of the largest specimens of the species survive in the agricultural landscapes in the southern Spain. These areas are almost totally destroyed and heavily altered by intensive agriculture greenhouses, also causing a severe fragmentation of the habitat, which implies a prospective extinction scenario in the near future.

Typification of Celastrus senegalensis and C. europaeus (Celastraceae, Celastroideae)

The nomenclatural types of Celastrus senegalensis Lam., basionym of the current name Maytenus senegalensis (Lam.) Exell, and C. europaeus Boiss., basionym of M. senegalensis subsp. europaea (Boiss.) Rivas Martínez ex Güemes & M.B. Crespo (Celastraceae, Celastroideae), are discussed. A specimen preserved in the herbarium P, at the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle of Paris, is treated in this work as the neotype of M. senegalensis, and a specimen kept in the herbarium G, at the Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques of Genève, is designated as the lectotype of M. senegalensis subsp. europea.

Remarks on the nomenclatural types of Celastrus senegalensis and C. europaeus

The nomenclatural types of Celastrus senegalensis Lam., basionym of the current name Maytenus senegalensis (Lam.) Exell, and C. europaeus Boiss., basionym of M. senegalensis subsp. europaea (Boiss.) Rivas Martínez ex Güemes & M.B. Crespo (Celastraceae, Celastroideae), are discussed. A specimen preserved in the herbarium P, at the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle of Paris, is treated in this work as the neotype of M. senegalensis, and a specimen kept in the herbarium G, at the Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques of Genève, is designated as the lectotype of M. senegalensis subsp. europea.