The role of plants in the treatment of diseases caused by
micro-organisms based in the natural products
(pure
and applied chemistry)
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUNG OF STUDY
1.1.1
Phyllantus
This is a genus of the family Euphorbiaceae. It was first identified in Central and Southern
India in 18th century. It is called carry me seed, stone-breaker,
wind breaker, gulf leaf flower or gala of wind, (Bharatiya 1992).
There are over 300 genera with over 5,000 species in
the Euphorbiaceae world wide. The Phyllantus is one of the genus that
falls under this enormous family. Phyllantus
has about 750-800 species, found in tropical and subtropical regions. Green
medicine is safe and more dependable than the costly synthetic drugs, many of
which have adverse side effects (Joseph and Raj, 2010). The use of medicinal
plants by man for the treatment of diseases has been in practice for a very
long time. Screening of compounds obtained from plants for their
pharmacological activity has resulted in the isolation of innumerable
therapeutic agents.
Over 50% of all modern chemical drugs are
of natural plant product origin and is essential in drug development programs
of the pharmaceutical industry (Burton et. al 1983).
1.1.2 Phyllantus
amarus (P. amarus)
P. amarus is an erect annual herb of
not more than one and half feet tall and has small leaves and yellow flowers.
It is a broad medicinal plant that has received world-wide recognition
(Srividiya and Perival, 1995).
In herbal medicine, P. amarus has
reportedly been used to treat jaundice, diabetes, otitis, diarrhea, swelling,
skin ulcer, gastrointestinal disturbances and blocks DNA polymerase in the case
of hepatitis B virus during reproduction, (Oluwafemi, and Debiri, 2008).
In Nigeria, it is called “Oyomokeisoamankedem”
in Efik, “Iyin Olobe” in Yoruba and “Ebebenizo” in Bini (Etta, 2008). In
traditional medicine, it is used for its hepatoprotective, anti-diabetic,
antihypertensive, analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti- microbial properties
(Adeneye et al; 2006). The plant is also used in the treatment of stomach disorders, skin diseases and cold
(Kokwaro, 1976; Iwu, 1993). It has anti-diarrhoea effect (Odetola and Akojenu, 2000). Its anti-viral activity
against hepatitis B virus has been established (Thyagarajan et al; 1988, Wang
et al; 1995), anti- carcinogenic (Joy and Kuttan, 1998), anti mutagenic
activities (Joy and Kuttan, 1998), antiplasmodial (Soh et al. 2009).
Plants contain numerous constituents,
some tend to possess some level of toxicity. Cases of this toxicity in plants
have been reported (Santox et al; 1995, Shaw et al; 1997, Kaplowitz, 1997). P.
amarus has been classified among plants with a low potential for toxicity,
with an LD50 averaging 2000mg/kg 1day (Krithika and Verma, 2009).
1.1.3 Phyllantus
niruri (P. niruri)
P. niruri is commonly called stone
breaker, also known as “Chanca piedra”. It belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae. P. niruri is similar to P. amarus.
It is a wide spread tropical plant commonly found in coastal areas that grows
40-70cm tall (Chukwuma, 2012).
In Nigeria,
it is called enyikwonwa and ngwu in Ibo, Oyokeso amanke edem in Efik, geeron-
tsemtsaayee in Hausa, ehin olobe and yin-olobe in Yoruba (Chukwuma, 2012).
Although P. niruri is considered a problematic
weed to formers it is a valuable medicinal plant. (Oudhia and Tripathi, 2002),
and holds a reputed position in both
Ayurvedic and Unani system of medicine. Recently, it has attracted the
attention of researchers, because of its hepatoprotective (ability to prevent
damage to the liver) properties. No effective specific therapy is available for
viral Hepatitis but P. niruri has
shown clinical efficiency in viral Heptatis B (Paranjape, 2001).
P. niruri is an annual plant, its stem
is angular with numerous distichous, ellipticoblong leaves. Flowers are yellow
and very numerous; monoecious with 1-3 staminate flowers and solitary
pistillate flower borne axillary. Fruits capsule, very small, globose, smooth,
seeds 3-gonous, longitudinally ribbed on the back. Seed to seed cycle occurs in
two or four weeks (Caius 1986), (Agharkar 1991). Its root, leaves, fruits,
milky juice and whole plants are used as medicine. According to Ayurvedic
system of medicine it is considered acrid, cooling, aleixipharmic and useful in
thirst, bronchitis, leprosy, anemia, urinary disharge, anuria, boiliousness,
asthma, for hiccups, and as a diuretic. According to Unani system of medicine,
it is stomachic and good for sores and useful in Chromic dysentery. Fruits
useful for tubercular ulcers, wounds, sores, scabies and ring worm (Agharkar
1991, Krishanamurty 1993). The fresh root is believed to be an excellent remedy
for jaundice.
In many
parts of India, it is commonly used for the treatment of snake bite. The active compounds phyllanthin and hypophyllanthim, nirtetralin and
phyltetralin have been isolated from leaves, (Rastogi and Mehrotra, 1991). The
plant is used as a fish poison. In many parts of India especially in deserts,
the roots mixed with Commiphora mukul
are given to camels to cure indigestion. The decoction of leaves and stem are
used for dying cotton black, (Singh et al; 1996).
P. niruri is one of the medicinal plants
used to treat malaria in India and Nigeria. P.
niruri has been used traditionally to treat various illnesses including
renal stones, gastrointestinal disturbance, cough, hepatitis, gonoorhea, fever
and malaria. It has also been reported to posses hypoglycemic activity (Hukuri,
et al; 1988), angiotension converting enzyme inhibition (Ueno, et al; 1988),
lipid lowering activity (Khanna, et al; 2002), anti HIV activity (Qian cutron,
et al; 1996) and anti cancer activity (Giridharan, et al; 2002).
1.2 Aim and objectives
This study
is aimed at showing which of the plants above is more effective in the
treatment of diseases caused by micro-organisms based in the natural products
present in them.
The specific objecti ves include;
a. Determination
of antibacterial effect of P. amarus and P. niruri.
b. Determination
of anti fungal effect of P. amarus and P. niruri.