Effect of the aqueous extract of Justicia insularis T. Anders (Acanthaceae) on ovarian folliculogenesis and fertility of female rats

Justicia insularis T. Anders (Acanthaceae) is a medicinal plant whose leaves and those of three other plants are mixed for the preparation of a concoction used to improve fertility and to reduce labour pains in women of the Western Region of Cameroon. Previous studies have demonstrated the inducing potential on ovarian folliculogenesis and steroidogenesis of the aqueous extract of the leaf mixture (ADHJ) of four medicinal plants (Aloe buettneri, Dicliptera verticillata, Hibiscus macranthus and Justicia insularis) among which the later represented the highest proportion. This study was aimed at evaluating the ovarian inducing potential of J. insularis in immature female rats. Various doses of the aqueous extract of J. insularis were daily and orally given, for 20 days, to immature female rats distributed into four experimental groups of twenty animals each. At the end of the experimental period some biochemical and physiological parameters of ovarian function were assayed. The administration of the aqueous extract of Justicia insularis significantly induced an early vaginal opening in all treated groups (P < 0.001) as well as an increase (at doses of 50 or 100 mg/kg) in the number of hemorrhagic points, Corpus luteum, implantation sites, ovarian weight, uterine and ovarian proteins. Ovarian cholesterol level (P < 0.05) significantly decreased in animals treated with the lowest dose (12.5 mg/kg). The evaluation of the toxicological effects of the extract on pregnancy showed that it significantly increased pre- and post-implantation losses, resorption index and decreased the rate of nidation as well as litter's weight. These results suggest that the aqueous extract of Justicia insularis induces ovarian folliculogenesis thus justifying its high proportion in the leaf mixture of ADHJ.

Aflatoxin contamination in food and body fluids in relation to malnutrition and cancer status in Cameroon

Aflatoxins are food contaminants usually associated with hepatitis, immunodepression, impairment of fertility and cancer. The present work was to determine the presence of aflatoxins in eggs, milk, urine, and blood samples that were collected from various sources and periods; and hepatitis B virus antigen in blood samples. Aflatoxin was found in eggs (45.2%), cow raw milk (15.9%), breast milk (4.8%), urine from kwashiorkor and marasmic kwashiorkor children (45.5%), and sera from primary liver cancer patients (63.9%); HbsAg was also detected in 69.4% of the serum samples, but there was no association between both factors. Both AF and hepatitis B virus seem to be risk factors that could increase the incidence and prevalence rates of malnutrition and cancer in Cameroon.

Inhibition of microsomal lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation by extracts from plants used in Bamun folk medicine (Cameroon) against hepatitis

The antioxidant activities of 53 medicinal plants used in Bamun folk medicine for the management of jaundice and hepatitis were investigated. The studies were done using rat hepatic microsomes for lipid peroxidation and bovine serum albumin (BSA) for carbonyl group formation. Silymarine was used as reference compound. Fifteen different extracts were effective at a dose of 200 microg/ml in both experiments. Specifically, 25 extracts inhibited lipid peroxidation initiated non-enzymatically by ascorbic acid while 18 inhibited peroxidation as determined by reduced Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Phosphate (NADPH). The inhibitory concentration 50 (IC(50)) of 23 different plant extracts was lower than 200 microg/ml in the microsomal lipid peroxidation inhibition study. Fifteen of the 23 extracts were active in preventing protein oxidation by inhibiting the formation of the carbonyl group on BSA with an IC(50) value less than 200 microg/ml. The results suggest that the antioxidant activity of the extracts, may be due to their ability to scavenge free radicals involved in microsomal lipid peroxidation or in protein oxidation. These biochemical processes are involved in the aetiology of toxic hepatitis.

Effects of extracts from Hibiscus macranthus and Basella alba mixture on testosterone production in vitro in adult rat testes slices

AIM

To find an in vitro system for the measurement of the androgenic effects of different extracts of Hibiscus macranthus (Malvaceae) and Basella alba (Basellaceae).

METHODS

The production of testosterone from testes slices incubated in two media, either Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 0.5% Bovine serum albumin (BSA) or Dubecco's Modified Eagle's medium-F12 Ham nutrient mixture (DME/Ham F12), under a mixture of 5% CO2 in 95% air was determined either in the presence or absence of cofactors and Hibiscus macranthus plus Basella alba (HMBA) extracts.

RESULTS

The testosterone production was increased in testes slices incubated in DME/Ham F12 medium in response to the cofactors (49%) and aqueous extracts (34%-60% according to dilutions). Under the same atmospheric conditions, there was no positive response of the testes slices to either cofactor or HMBA extract stimulation in Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 0.5% BSA. In further investigations related to the effect of HMBA, the DME/Ham F12 medium was used. The results obtained from the in vitro test showed that the activity was present mainly in methylene chloride and methanol, since these extracts induced an increase in testosterone production by testes slices.

CONCLUSION

The testes slice system is suitable to be used for further in vitro investigations of the isolation of androgenic bioactive components of plants.

Inductive effect of the leaf mixture extract of Aloe buettneri, Justicia insularis, Dicliptera verticillata and Hibiscus macranthus on in vitro production of estradiol

In the course of a preliminary clarification of the mechanisms of the leaf mixture extract of Aloe buettneri, Justicia insularis, Dicliptera verticillata and Hibiscus macranthus, locally used to regulate the menstrual cycle and to treat dysmenorrhea or cases of infertility in women, pieces of proestrus rat ovary were incubated in the presence of increasing concentration of the plant extract and/or human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG). The in vitro production of estradiol and progesterone by ovarian cells of proestrus rat was significantly increased in the presence of various concentration of hCG (P < 0.05). The different concentration of the plant extract increased the production of estradiol by twofold. In addition, the in vitro production of estradiol by ovarian cells increased by 13-fold when they were incubated with hCG (0.1 IU/ml) and a concentration of 130 microg/ml of the plant extract. These results clearly attest the direct effects of some chemical components of the leaf mixture of the plants on ovarian steroidogenesis.

Oestrogenicity and effect on hepatic metabolism of the aqueous extract of the leaf mixture of Aloe buettneri, Dicliptera verticillata, Hibiscus macranthus and Justicia insularis

The aqueous extract of the leaf mixtures of Aloe buettneri, Dicliptera verticillata, Hibiscus macranthus and Justicia insularis given by oral route to immature female rats, at doses of 13, 49 and 94 mg/kg per day for 15 days induced a significant increase in ovarian and uteri weight as well as serum and ovarian oestradiol. Moreover, a significant decrease in liver of aminopyrine N-demethylase activity was noticed in treated animals.

[Lipid profile in a rural population in western Cameroon]

Cardiovascular disease is becoming more prevalent in Cameroon. To help understand the underlying situation, we determined the blood levels of various forms of cholesterol total cholesterol (TC), free cholesterol (FC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and serum lipid concentrations : total lipids (TL) triglycerides (TG), phospholipids (PL), in 176 volunteers chosen randomly in west Cameroon. The six variables measured were all in the normal range. There were no significant differences between the two sexes and other characteristics of the subjects. There were significant associations between: age and atherogenic ratio of cholesterol (ARC): age and TL (at p < 0.01); age and TC; TL and TC; ARC and TC and TL and TG (at p < 0.001). Analysis of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease indicated that 17.79% of the women and 11.36% of the men had two or more risk factors.