Scientific publications
Gaëtan Olivier Fankem
Idrice Kamtchouing
Joseph Ngakou Mukam
Other affiliations: Institut de Recherches Médicales et d’Etudes des Plantes Médicinales
Henri Wambe
Télesphore Benoît Nguelefack
Paul Aimé Noubissi* (Corresponding author)
Michel Archange Fokam Tagne
Angèle Foyet Fondjo
BioMed Research International
This study was undertaken to evaluate the activities of water/ethanol Cola anomala pods extract. In vitro antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by the disk diffusion method; the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were determined by agar dilution technique. In vivo , shigellosis was induced in healthy Wistar albino rats by oral administration of Shigella flexneri inoculum, 12 × 10 8 CFU/mL. At the onset of diarrhea, infected and normal control animals were subdivided into various groups treated with distilled water, with water/ethanol Cola anomala pods extract at 25, 50, or 100 mg/kg, or with ciprofloxacin, 2.5 mg/kg. After one-week treatment, rats were sacrificed, and blood and colon were collected. Blood was used for blood cell count. A portion of the colon served for histological studies while homogenate from the remaining part was centrifuged and the supernatant was collected for the determination of NO, PGE 2 , IL-1 β , and TNF- α levels. In vitro , water/ethanol Cola anomala pods extract showed to be bactericidal, with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 2.0 mg/mL and a minimum bactericidal concentration of 3.0 mg/mL. In diarrheic rats, the extract significantly (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo><</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.01</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>) increased the white blood cells and significantly (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo><</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.01</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>) decreased stool Shigella density from the first to the seventh day of treatment. It partially restored the structure of eroded intestine epithelium and prevented weight loss; the dose dependently and significantly (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>P</mml:mi><mml:mo><</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.001</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:math>) decreased NO, IL-1 β , and TNF- α production in the colon and was found to have no significant effect on PGE 2 production. These results support the use of this plant in traditional medicine in the treatment of gastrointestinal ailments.
