Ethnobotanical survey of plants used by traditional health practitioners for treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders in Bandiagara, Mali, West Africa

Global perspectives on the traditional approaches used in the treatment of schizophrenia: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Traditional healing considers a holistic approach when diagnosing and treating patients for mental ailments, and is the preferred approach globally.

OBJECTIVE

This review documented traditional healing approaches for treatment of schizophrenia used in different regions globally.

METHODS

PICO framework was used to facilitate literature search from Google Scholar, PubMed, Medline, Cochrane, Scopus, APA PsycINFO, and Web search. Studies documenting methods of treatment from the perspective of traditional healers, patients and/or caregivers were included and also studies which investigated herbal plants used in traditional healing in vitro and in vivo were included. Review articles, magazine/newspaper articles, editorials, letters, comments/opinion articles, and articles with inaccessible full text were excluded. The risk of bias was assessed using MMAT and SYRCLE tools. University Capacity Development Programme funded this review.

RESULTS

74 articles were included, these documented traditional healing practices used in Africa, Asia, America, Europe, and Oceania. Common approach globally was herbal medicine. Other reported methods included faith-based healing, consultation with the ancestors, performing rituals, acupuncture, and music and yoga therapies. Inhumane approaches included starving, beating, cutting and confining patients. In some cases, traditional healing was used as adjunctive treatment. The overall risk of bias for studies in this review was low.

CONCLUSION

Traditional healing contributes in bridging the treatment gap for schizophrenia in developing countries. However, there is a lack of standardisation of the approaches employed in the different regions, and the safety and effectiveness of some of these approaches remain questionable.

Polyherbal Combinations Used by Traditional Health Practitioners against Mental Illnesses in Bamako, Mali, West Africa

This study explores the traditional knowledge of plants used by traditional health practitioners (THPs) in the treatment of symptoms or syndromes related to mental illnesses in the district of Bamako in Mali, along with the identification of affiliated traditional treating methods. An exploratory and cross-sectional ethnopharmacological survey was conducted in the district of Bamako. The Malian Federation of Associations of Therapists and Herbalists (FEMATH) assisted in the identification and inclusion of the THPs. Data sampling included semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and in-depth interviews. Quantitative data were evaluated by analysing reports of the use of different medicinal plants and the number of participants. Fifteen THPs belonging to the district of Bamako participated. In total, 43 medicinal plants belonging to 22 plant families were used by the THPs. The most cited plant species was Securidaca longepedunculata (violet tree), followed by Khaya senegalensis (African mahogany) and Boscia integrifolia (rough-leaved shepherds tree). A great number of herbal combinations, preparation methods, and administration routes were used, often with honey as an adjuvant. To our knowledge, this is the first ethnobotanical survey on the use of medicinal plants in the treatment of all types of mental disorders in Bamako.

Anti-cholinesterase, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of Combretum micranthum G. Don: Potential implications in neurodegenerative disease

Background

Brain damage is a severe and common pathology that leads to life-threatening diseases. Despite development in the research, the medical evidence of the effectiveness of potential neuroprotective medicines is insufficient. As a result, there is an immense and urgent demand for promising medication. For millennia, herbal remedies were a fundamental aspect of medical treatments. Combretum micranthum (CM), a plant of the family Combretaceae in sub-Saharan Africa, has been utilized in folklore medicine to cure diverse human ailments. In order to develop a neuroprotective phytomedicine, the current research was undertaken to explore the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticholinesterase and neuroprotective potential of CM extract.

Methods

Colorimetric methods were used to determine CM antioxidant activity, in-vitro protein denaturation and membrane destabilization assays were used to evaluate its anti-inflammatory capacity, anticholinesterase activity was carried out using Ellman's method, and neuroprotective potential was assessed on brain homogenate stressed with ferric chloride and ascorbic acid (FeCl₂-AA) by assessing the lipoperoxidation biomarker malondialdehyde (MDA).

Results

In Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (IC₅₀ = 27.15 ± 0.06 µg/mL) and Total Antioxidant Capacity (IC₅₀ = 31.13 ± 0.02 µg/mL), CM extract demonstrated strong antioxidant activity. Anti-inflammatory effect were improved in heat-induced Egg albumin and BSA denaturation (IC ₅₀ = 46.35 ± 1.53 and 23.94 ± 1.10 µg/mL) as well as heat and hypotonia induced membrane destabilization (IC ₅₀ = 20.96 ± 0.11 and 16.75 ± 0.94 µg/mL).CM extract showed strong anticholinesterase activity (IC ₅₀ = 59.85 ± 0.91 µg/mL). In an ex-vivo neuroprotective model, CM extract showed substantial inhibition (p < 0.001) of oxidative damage caused by FeCl₂-AA in brain tissue.

Conclusion

C. micranthum may be a good candidate for its probable neuroprotective potential. Its neuroprotective benefits might be attributed to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticholinesterase effects.

Traditional medicinal plants used for treating emerging and re-emerging viral diseases in northern Nigeria

Introduction

For decades, viral diseases have been treated using medicinal plants and herbal practices in the northern part of Nigeria. Though scarcely investigated, these medicinal plants could serve as potential sources for novel antiviral drugs against emerging and remerging viral diseases. Therefore, this study is aimed at investigating the medicinal practices and plants used to treat emerging and re-emerging viral diseases including hepatitis, poliomyelitis, monkeypox, smallpox, yellow fever, Lassa fever, meningitis, and COVID-19 in some northern states; Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara and Sokoto states.

Method

Administered questionnaires and oral interviews were used to collect information on medicinal plants, method of preparation of herbal formulations, diagnosis, and treatment of viral diseases. Medicinal plants were collected, botanically identified, and assigned voucher numbers. The plant names were verified using www.theplantlist.org, www.worldfloraonline.org and the international plant names index.

Result

A total of 280 participating herbal medicine practitioners (HMPs) mentioned 131 plants belonging to 65 families. Plant parts such as roots, bark, leaf, seed, and fruit were prepared as a decoction, concoction, infusion, or ointment for oral and topical treatment of viral diseases. Moringa oleifera (75.3%), Elaeis guineensis Jacq. (80%), and Acacia nilotica (70%) were the most frequently mentioned plants in Kebbi, Kwara and Sokoto states, respectively.

Conclusion

The study revealed scarcely investigated and uninvestigated medicinal plants used to treat hepatitis, poliomyelitis, monkeypox, smallpox, yellow fever, Lassa fever, meningitis, and COVID-19. Future studies should be conducted to determine the antiviral potency and isolate novel bioactive agents from these plants against viral diseases.