Browsing by Author "Mzena, Theopista"

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Acute and sub-acute toxicity studies of chloroform extracts of cucumis metuliferus and lippia kituiensis in mice and rats model
(World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 2020) Mzena, Theopista; Swai, Hulda; Chacha, Musa
Objective: To evaluate the acute and sub-acute oral toxicity of Cucumis metuliferus and Lippia kituiensis leaf chloroform extracts in mice and rats model. Methods: Acute oral toxicity study of chloroform extracts of L. kituiensis and C. metuliferus was carried out by administration of 300, 600, 1500, mg/kg body weight to mice in the respective groups. The LD50 of the C. metuliferus and L. kituiensis extracts was determined to be not greater than 2000 mg/kg body weight. Sub-acute toxicity study was conducted by oral administration of the extracts at daily doses of 150, 300 and 500mg/kg body weight in the respective groups of rats for 28 days, and a positive control consisting of 1% DMSO and 5 mL was given to each. Results: In acute toxicity, all treated groups revealed neither mortality nor significant alteration in behavior, body weight, and hematology parameters. However, the significance different was observed in organ weight at a dose of 600mg/kg and 1500mg/kg of the tested plant extract in both plants. In sub acute study the result revealed neither mortality nor significant alteration in behavior between treated and control. The significant different was observed in body weight in all doses in both plants and organ weight and haematological parameter in dose level 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg compared to control. Moreover the significant change was observed in biochemical parameters of both sexes in dose of 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg body weight of C. metuliferus and L. kituiensis extract. A significant histological change was observed in liver, kidney, lungs and spleen in all extract of C. metuliferus and L. kituiensis in a dose of 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg body weight. Conclusion: These plants can causes‟ severe toxicity to animals.
Antimalarial activity of Cucumis metuliferus and Lippia kituiensis against Plasmodium berghei infection in mice
(Dovepress, 2018) Mzena, Theopista; Swai, Hulda; Chacha, Musa
Background: The search for new antimalarial drugs has become progressively urgent due to plasmodial resistance to most of the commercially available antimalarial drugs. As part of this effort, the study evaluated the antimalarial activity of Cucumis metuliferus and Lippia kituiensis, which are traditionally used in Tanzania for the treatment of malaria. Materials and methods: In vivo antimalarial activity was assessed using the 4-day suppressive antimalarial assay. Mice were infected by injecting via tail vein 1×107 erythrocytes infected by Plasmodium berghei ANKA. Extracts were administered orally; chloroquine (10 mg/kg/day) and dimethyl sulfoxide (5 mL/kg/day) were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. The level of parasitemia, survival time, packed cell volume (PCV) and variation in body weight of mice were used to determine the antimalarial activity of the extract. Results: The ethyl acetate, methanolic and chloroform extracts of C. metuliferus and L. kituiensis significantly (p<0.05) inhibited parasitemia in a dose-dependent manner and prevented loss of body weight at the dose levels of 600 mg/kg and 1500 mg/kg, respectively. In addition, the extracts prolonged the mean survival time of P. berghei-infected mice compared to the non-treated control. The plant extracts did not show reduction of PCV except at the low dose of 300 mg/kg. The highest suppression was recorded at the dose level of 1,500 mg/kg. At this dose, C. metuliferus in chloroform, methanolic and ethyl acetate extracts had percentage suppression of 98.55%, 88.89% and 84.39%, respectively, whereas L. kituiensis in ethyl acetate, chloroform and methanolic extracts exhibited suppression of the pathogens of 95.19%, 93.88% and 74.83%, respectively. Conclusion: It is worth reporting that the two plants induced suppression which is equivalent to that induced by chloroquine (C. metuliferus chloroform and L. Kituiensis ethyl acetate). The two plants have been demonstrated to be potential sources of antimalarial templates.
Antimalarial, toxicity and phytochemicals evaluation of lippia kituiensis and cucumis metuliferus species found in Tanzania
(NM-AIST, 2020-04) Mzena, Theopista
This study aimed at evaluating the antimalarial, toxicity and phytochemical profile of Cucumis metuliferus and Lippia kituiensis used for treatment of malaria in Tanzania. Pulverised plant materials were sequentially extracted in chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol, the solvent was removed using a rotary evaporator. This extracts were evaluated for antimalarial activity using animal model infected with Plasmodium berghei. The negative and positive controls were treated with 1% DMSO and chloroquine (CQ) respectively. Cucumis metuliferus percentage suppression was 98.55%, 88.89% and 84.39% for chloroform, methanolic, and ethyl acetate extract respectively. For L. kituiensis the percentage suppression was 95.19%, 93.88% and 74.83%, for ethyl acetate, chloroform and methanolic extracts respectively at a dose of 1500, 600 and 300 mg/kg respectively. Phytochemical profile of C. metuliferus and L. kituiensis methanolic, ethyl acetate and chloroform leaf extract were also determined by GCMS technique. The analysis revealed the presence of 11 major compounds. Moreover, the extracts were evaluated for acute and sub-acute toxicity. In acute toxicity test, the result showed no significant difference was observed in behavior, body weight and hematology parameters. The LD 50 of the C. metuliferus and L. kituiensis extracts in mice was determined to be not greater than 2000 mg/kg body weight. In sub acute toxicity the rats were orally treated with doses of 150 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg body weight. The results revealed a significant change in body weight, organ weight, hematological and biochemical parameters of rats administered with 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg body weight. Histopathological examination revealed the distraction of glomerula and bowman’s capsule, distraction of tubules and inflammation of kidneys and bile duct hyperplasia, hepatic necrosis and vacuolation of the liver while the lung showed thickened alveolar wall in a dose of 300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg body weight. These findings suggest that C. metuliferus and L. kituiensis have demonstrated antimalarial activities, but with toxicity. To reduce their toxicity and improve their pharmacologic properties, the study suggests that isolation, characterization, structural elucidation of different types of bioactive compound with high potency may serve as candidate to reduce their toxicity effect and hence developing a new beneficial drug.