Habila James Dama
Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Nat Prod Chem Res
The challenges of parasitic worms, especially in the developing nations have become a global concern. The anthelmintic drugs in use are mostly synthesized compounds with the usual sides effects and complications. These have fueled the search for newer anthelmintics drugs, especially from nature. C. Schweinfurthii, a plant with many ethnomedicinal uses, has been implicated in the treatment of roundworm infections and other intestinal parasites in Africa. Our investigation reveals that, the leaves of C. schweinfurthii showed high degree of ovicidal activity against Ascaris suum, with 80% inhibition at 10 μg/ml. The chloroform and ethylacetate extracts of C. schweinfurthii stem bark showed high degree of larvicidal activity with 74% inhibition at 10 μg/ml. Column purification on silica gel lead to the isolation of 3β-hydroxyllup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid (betulinic acid) from the ethylacetate extract of the stem bark. Anthelmintic investigation of 3β-hydroxyllup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid revealed ovicidal activity with percentage inhibition of 65% and larvicidal activity of 83%, which compared favorably to the results obtained for albendazole; ovicidal (98.1%) and larvicidal (97.2%). This plant shows promising potential that can be explored in the search for new anthelmintic drugs. habilajames2005@yahoo.com
