Zulu traditional healers' brew works
Izelle Theunissen, MRC News
Laboratory tests of a few medicinal plants used by Zulu traditional healers
against diarrhoea show them to be effective.
Diarrhoea continues to be one of the leading causes of illness and death -
especially in young children - in developing countries. And when disease
strikes, many South Africans turn to the medication they know and trust:
traditional herbal brews.
"South Africa has a great environmental and biological diversity
compared with the rest of the world. A range of medicinal plants with anti-diarrhoeal
properties has been widely used by the traditional healers of different tribes
in the country. But the effectiveness of many of these anti-diarrhoeal
traditional medicines has not been scientifically evaluated," says Dr J.
Lin, an MRC-supported scientist from the Department of Biochemistry and
Microbiology at the University of Zululand.
Plants and uses
The leaves of Aristea spp. of the Iridaceae family is mainly
used to treat colds, flu, malaria, toothache and bruises, while the bulbs from Eleutherina
bulbosa are used to doctor burns. "Anecdotal evidence suggests that
these two medicinal plants are also used to treat gastro-intestinal
diseases," says Dr Lin.
Other plants are Bridelia micrantha (apart from gastro-intestinal
illness, the bark is also used to treat paralysis and painful joints) and Psidium
guajava (this plant originates from Mexico and is a relatively well-studied
species with respect to diarrhoea).
Tests and results
"We studied the anti-diarrhoeal effects of the plants, using different
experimental models in rats, and we also looked at the anti-microbial activities
of the plants against different pathogenic micro-organisms that cause diarrhoea,"
explains Dr Lin.
The extract of P. guajava leaves was the only agent to inhibit the
growth of diarrhoeagenic pathogens, for example Salmonella, Shigella
spp. and enteropathogenic E. coli.
The scientists found the extracts of all 4 plants to show a similar level of
anti-diarrhoeal activity. "The extracts significantly reduced castor-oil
induced diarrhoea and also reduced gastro-intestinal motility and enteropooling.
The extracts also reduced mucosal inflammation. So the results prove that these
plant materials used by Zulu traditional healers can be considered as potent
anti-diarrhoeal agents," Dr Lin says.
This article courtesy of the MRC News: www.mrc.ac.za
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