Tuberculosis is an important public health problem in Gabon, and the DOTS strategy recommended by the World Health Organisation has not been successfully applied. In 2006, 45% of patients abandoned ...treatment during the first phase. A pilot cross-sectional study was thus conducted from September 1 to November 30, 2006, at the Nkembo Tuberculosis Centre in Libreville, Gabon. Thirty patients with positive microscopy results who returned after having interrupted treatment completed a standardised questionnaire. They were mainly young men: their mean age was 33 years old and the male/female ratio was 2.7. Reasons for having abandoned treatment were a lack of money to pay for it (43%) and an impression that they had been cured (23%). The motivations for resuming treatment were the return of symptoms (73%). The risk of drug resistance requires that the Gabonese government play a greater role in the fight against tuberculosis.
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality. Tieghemella africana and Ficus vogeliana are used in traditional medicine to treat cancers.
...Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant, antiangiogenic and anti-tumor activities of these plant extracts.
To achieve it, phytochemical screening, antioxidant activity and antiangiogenic activity were assessed. Thereafter, the anti-tumor activity was determined using skin tumorigenesis induced by 7,12-dimethylbenzaanthracene.
The phytochemical result analysis showed that both plant extracts were rich in polyphenols, alkaloids and terpene compounds and possessed good antioxidant activity based on DPPH radical scavenging (IC50 = 9.70 μg/mL and 4.60 μg/mL and AAI values of 5.20 and 10.88) and strong total antioxidant capacity (115.44 VtCE (mg)/g of dry plant extract and 87.37 VtCE (mg)/g of dry plant extract, respectively). Additionally, both plant extracts possessed antiangiogenic activities (IC50 = 53.43 μg/mL and 92.68 μg/mL, respectively), which correlated with significant antitumor activities when using 35 mg/kg (65.02% and 77.54%) and 70 mg/kg of extracts (81.07% and 88.18%).
In summary, this study illustrates the promising usage of Tieghemella africana and Ficus vogeliana plant extracts in treating skin cancer. However, further characterization of the extracts must be performed to isolate the most active anticancer compound.
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