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Antifugal evaluation and phytochemical analysis of selected medicinal plants used in the treatment of fungal diseases associated with HIV infection in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Background. As a result of the AIDS pandemic, many people areimmuno compromised andopportunistic fungal infections (OFIs) such as candidiasis are common. Despite the widespread use of medicinal plants in South Africa, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding the use of such plants in the management of these infections. This study evaluates three South African medicinal plants (Arctotis arctotoides, Pittosporum viridiflorum, and Gasteria bicolor) traditionally used in the treatment of OFIs in HIV/AIDS patients, in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Materials and methods. A six-stage process of documentation, evaluation and analysis of results was conducted: (1) Selection of medicinal plants most frequently used in the treatment of OFIs through ethnomedical studies and the survey of specialised literature; (2) Collection and preparation of the extract of each plant; (3) Antifungal evaluation of the crude plant extracts. (4) Phytochemical and antioxidant evaluation of the active crude plant extracts; (5) Cytotoxicity evaluation of the bioactive extracts using the Chang liver cell line, and (6) Statistical analysis of the results. Ethnobotanical information was obtained through interviews with traditional healers and AIDS patients with the aid of semi-structured questionnaires, direct observations and by reviewing studies reported in the literature. Following the approval from the University of Fort Hare‘s Ethics Committee, 101 HIV/AIDS patients were recruited through convenience sampling into an anonymous cross-sectional questionnaire study. The agar diffusion and micro-dilution methods were used to determine the antifungal activities of the hexane, acetone and aqueous extracts of A. arctotoides, G. bicolor and P. viridiflorum against 10 opportunistic fungi.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufh/vital:11307
Date January 2013
CreatorsMbeng, Wilfred Otang
PublisherUniversity of Fort Hare, Faculty of Science & Agriculture
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Doctoral, PhD (Botany)
Format197 leaves; 30 cm, pdf
RightsUniversity of Fort Hare

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