People living with asthma no longer need to despair. In fact they may no longer need to worry about taking their inhalers wherever they went. A local preparation might have provided a solution. CHUKWUMA MUANYA writes.IT can be discomforting and an identified cause of sudden deaths in Nigeria. Asthma is a disorder that causes the airways of the lungs to swell and narrow, leading to wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness and coughing.But results of studies carried out by Nigerian researchers suggest that the largely genetic disease could be treated and managed with a concoction made of pineapple fruit, unripe pawpaw, palm nut, bitter kola, ginger, garlic and onions mixed in pap water and honey.A recent study published in European Journal of Scientific Research by Nigerian researchers has uncovered six recipes or rather possible novel drugs for treating asthma: Ananas comosus (pineapple) fruit, unripe Carica papaya (pawpaw) fruit and palm nut in pap water, Garcinia cola (bitter kola), Zingiber officinale (ginger) and Allium sativum (garlic) in honey, Carica papaya seed, a decoction of Garcinia cola root bark with a pinch of salt in water, Corchorus olitorus (jute in English, ewedu in Yoruba) and honey and decoction of Crudia klainei leaves or bark in water.The study is titled 'Ethnobotanical survey of plants used in treatment of inflammatory diseases in Ogun State of Nigeria.'The researchers include Omonike O. Ogbole and Adebayo A. Gbolade of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Olabisi Onabanjo University Sagamu campus, Ogun State and Edith O. Ajaiyeoba of the Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State.An ethnobotanical survey was conducted into plants and plant recipes used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases in five local councils in Ogun State of Nigeria namely, Sagamu, Ikenne, Ago-Iwoye, Oru and Ijebu-Igbo through the use of semi-structured questionnaire. Respondents included traditional medical practitioners, herbalists and herb sellers.Also, the popular asthma herb, Euphorbia hirta, has been shown to not only to be effective in treating asthma but to possess antiviral activity against Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).Euphorbia hirta belongs to the plant family Euphorbiaceae. It is called In Nigeria, asin uloko in Edo, endamyel in Fula-Fulfulde, ba ala in Igbo (Owerri), akun esan in Yoruba.Euphorbia hirta is also locally known as ogwu ngwo (eczema drug) in some eastern parts of Nigeria is used locally to arrest bleeding in the event of an injury. Leaves of Euphorbia hirta are used in traditional medicine for the treatments of boils, wounds and control of diarrhoea and dysentery.The use of pineapple, pawpaw, Bitter kola, onion, garlic and ginger to treat asthma has also been confirmed by another study published in Pakistan Journal of Nutrition.The study is titled 'Medicinal Herbs Used for Managing Some Common Ailments among Esan People of Edo State, Nigeria.'The researchers at the departments of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Medical Biochemistry and Botany, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State wrote: '' Abrus precatorius leaf extract is chewed for asthma' Allium cepa (onions) bulb is taken for asthma. Decoction is taken orally. Allium sativum (garlic) bulb is taken for asthma. Decoction is taken orally' Ananas comosus (pineapple) fruit for asthma. Ripe fruit is eaten. Carica papaya (pawpaw) dry leaf for asthma. The smoke of burnt leaf is inhaled.'Euphorbia hirta leaf is taken for wound. It is applied on the surface of the wound. Fresh leaf is taken for asthma. Decoction is taken orally. Garcinia kola (Bitter kola) root bark is taken for asthma. Decoction is taken orally after food.'Abrus precatorious belongs to the family Leguminosae-papilionoideae. In Nigeria, it is omisinmisin in Yoruba and empo in Esan. It is commonly called jequirity (from a Brazilian name), crab's eyes (the seeds), bird's eye (the seeds), prayer beads (the seeds), lucky bean (the seeds), Indian liquorice, or wild liquorice (the root).The Euphorbia hirta HIV study titled 'Antiviral activities of extracts of Euphorbia hirta L. against HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIVmac251' was published in In Vivo by researchers at Johan Bla National Center for Epidemiology, Microbiological Research Group, Budapest, Hungary.The antiretroviral activities of extracts of Euphorbia hirta were investigated in vitro on the MT4 human T lymphocyte cell line. The researchers wrote: 'The HIV-1 inhibitory potency of E. hirta was studied further and the activities of the aqueous and 50 per cent methanolic extracts were compared. The 50 per cent methanolic extract was found to exert a higher antiretroviral effect than that of the aqueous extract.'The 50 per cent methanolic extract was subjected to liquid-liquid partition with dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and water. Only the remaining aqueous phase exhibited significant antiviral activity; all the lipophilic extracts appeared to be inactive. After removal of the tannins from the aqueous extract, the viral replication inhibitory effect was markedly decreased, and it was therefore concluded that tannins are most probably responsible for the high antiretroviral activity.'Another study published in Journal of American Science has confirmed the antibacterial activities of Euphorbia hirta. Leaves of Euphorbia hirta used in traditional medicine for the treatment of boils, wounds and control of diarrhoea and dysentery was extracted by maceration in ethanol. The agar diffusion method was used to determine the antibacterial activity on Staphylococcus aureus, E coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi and Bacillus subtilis at different concentrations while it was tested for toxicity on albino rats by injecting varying concentrations of the extracts through the intraperitoneal route.The results indicated that the extract inhibited the growth of Staph aureus, E. coli and P. aeruginosa to varying degrees. The extract did not inhibit the growth of S. typhi. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the extract for E. coli, Staph aureus, P. aeruginosa and B. subtilis were 58.09mg/ml, 22.55 mg/ml, 57.64 mg/ml and 74.61 mg/ml in that order'Thus the plant extract is haematologically not toxic to rats. The observed antibacterial activities were believed to be due to the presence of tannins, alkaloids and flavonoids which were identified in the extract.'The results are of significance in the health care delivery system and apparently justifies the use of the plant in the treatment of sores, boils, wounds and control of dysentery and diarrhoea,' the researchers concluded.
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