Histopathology induced by a medicinal plant indigenous to South Africa that has shown in vitro anti-microbial activity against drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

• Main Author: Shauli, Mathulo Mathabiso
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University 2015
• Subjects: Mycobacterial diseases; Tuberculosis > Treatment > South Africa; Medicinal plants > Microbiology; Traditional medicine
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3990

Tuberculosis (TB) still remains a health problem globally with over a million new infections and a mortality rate of 1.5 million individuals annually (Hawn et al., 2014). The emerging multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains that accompany human immune deficiency virus (HIV) infection in high-incidence populations contribute significantly to the health burden of TB (Areeshi et al., 2014). The standard treatment that is advocated by the World Health Organization (WHO) for active tuberculosis includes long-term therapy that incorporates the use of isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinimide and ethambutol as front line drugs (WHO, 2013). Drug resistance against established treatment options for TB makes research into new forms of therapy an imperative in health care (Ntulela et al., 2009). South Africa is currently witnessing a high number of cases of drug-resistant TB. In some parts of the country, one in ten cases of TB is resistant to treatment. It is therefore essential to have new anti-tuberculosis agents, which can be readily and simply produced from some local source (Warner et al., 2014). A logical starting point for this research of new agents would be the herbal medicines which have been used for centuries in rural areas by local healers. Western developed countries have harvested ethno botanical knowledge and have produced drug therapies for conventional medicines for other ailments. The activity of extracts of the active plants and their properties still require study in animal models in order to assess their future as new anti-tuberculosis agents (Lall and Meyer, 1999). This study focuses on qualitative and quantitative experimental findings after the administration of a medicinal plant extract to animals. This will include daily observation of animals, recording of feed consumption, recording of animal weights, macroscopic examination of animals at necropsy, tissue harvesting, histological procedures and microscopy.