Planta Med 2008; 74 - PB128
DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1084473

Identification and chemical study of plants used in the traditional treatment of Buruli Ulcer in Benin

AL Yemoa 1, 2, JD Gbenou 2, RC Johnson 3, JG Djego 4, C Zinsou 5, A Martin 6, M Moudachirou 2, A Bigot 1, F Portaels 6, J Quetin-Leclercq 7
  • 1UFR Pharmacie, Faculté des Sciences de la Santé (FSS), Université d'Abomey-Calavi (UAC), 01 BP 188 Bénin
  • 2Laboratoire de pharmacognosie et des huiles essentielles, FSS/UAC, 01 BP188 Bénin. E-mail: ayemoa@yahoo.fr
  • 3Programme National de Lutte contre l'Ulcère de Buruli, (PNLUB), Ministère de la Santé Publique, Cotonou, Bénin
  • 4Laboratoire d'Ecologie Appliquée (LEA), Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques (FSA), UAC, Bénin
  • 5Centre Sanitaire et Nutritionnel Gbemoten, Zagnanado, Bénin
  • 6Institut de Médecine Tropicale, Antwerpen, Département Microbiologie Nationalestraat 155, B-2000 Antwerpen, Belgique
  • 7Université catholique de Louvain, Ecole de Pharmacie, Unité CHAM, Laboratoire de Pharmacognosie, avenue Mounier 72UCL7230 B, Belgique

Buruli ulcer (BU) is a skin disease caused by infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans. Currently, surgery associated or not with specific antibiotic therapy is the only proven effective treatment. However, it is presently only being carried out in a few medical centers with proper and adequate equipment for the management of BU [1]. Due to cultural and economic reasons in Benin, traditional treatment remains the first option for patients with generally low income resources [2]. In Benin, plants make up the main component of traditional treatment for BU. We recently carried out an ethnobotanical survey involving 17 traditional practitioners within the Ouinhi community in Zou department. We noted that 49 different plants are being used for the traditional treatment of BU and different parts of these plants are employed in various pharmaceutical forms for internal or external uses. The chemical study of these plants revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, saponins, quinone derivatives, essential oils, steroids and terpenoids. Many compounds of these characterized groups of chemicals known for their antibacterial properties. Extracts of 20 plants taken from the 49 identified were screened against Mycobacterium ulcerans using Resazurin Microtiter Assay (REMA) [3]. Holarrhena floribunda (G. Don) T. Durand and Schinz and Jatropha curcas Linn inhibited in vitro the growth of Mycobacterium ulcerans at concentrations of 125µg/ml and 250µg/ml respectively.

Acknowledgement: This research was financially supported by the CGRI (Commissariat Général aux Relations Internationales de la Belgique- Wallonie), and the projet BURULICO n°INCO-CT-2005–051476. We acknowledge the immense contribution of the Ouinhi traditional practitioners to this study.

References: 1. Asiedu K, Scherpbier R (2000) UB: infection à Mycobacterium ulcerans, Genève, Eds WHO/CDS/CPE/GBUI, p.117. 2. Johnson, R.C. et al. (2004) Med tropical 64: 145–150. 3. Martin, A. et al. 2003. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 47: 3616–3619.