Department of Chemistry, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, P.O Box 1410, Mbarara, Uganda.
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, P.O Box 1410, Mbarara, Uganda.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Mar 25;268:113578. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2020.113578. Epub 2020 Nov 12.
In Africa, traditional medicine encompasses a diverse range of practices, including herbalism and spiritualism, where some diseases are believed to be "African" since they can only be traditionally treated. Indigenous knowledge on the management of "African" diseases using medicinal plants is still handed down orally from generation to generation by tribal societies of tropical Africa, and with the rapid westernization of these societies there is a pressing need to record local knowledge before it is lost forever.
This study documented medicinal plant species associated with the management of "African" diseases by the local communities of Bwambara sub-county in Rukungiri district, Western Uganda.
A cross-sectional study was conducted using semi-structured questionnaires and interviews. The data collected included names of plant species, plant parts used, diseases treated, methods of preparation, and mode of administration of the herbal remedies. A total of 196 informants participated in the study. Data were analyzed and presented using descriptive statistics and the Informant consensus factor.
We documented 67 medicinal plant species distributed over 27 families and 62 genera. The most commonly reported species belong to Asteraceae family. The most frequently used medicinal species were Chenopodium opulifolium (27), Sesbania sesban (26), Thevetia peruviana (25), Leonotis nepetifolia (23), Momordica foetida (23), Euphorbia hirta (21) and Cassia mimosoides (20). Leaves were the most commonly used plants parts and decoctions were the main method of preparation. Water was the main medium used for the preparation of the remedies which were administered orally while petroleum jelly was the main medium for those which were used as ointments. The medicinal plant species reported are used to treat 39 conditions which were clustered into 10 International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) disease categories. There is a high degree of consensus among the informants on which medicinal plant species they use for different diseases especially disorders in the following categories: neurological (FIC = 0.90), general and unspecified (FIC = 0.87), digestive (FIC = 0.86) and female genital (FIC = 0.82).
Local communities of Bwambara sub-county in Rukungiri district, Western Uganda use a rich diversity of medicinal plant species in the management of various "African" diseases. Therefore, collaboration between users of medicinal plants and scientists is paramount, to help in the discovery of new drugs based on indigenous knowledge.
在非洲，传统医学涵盖了广泛的实践，包括草药学和灵性主义，一些疾病被认为是“非洲的”，因为它们只能通过传统方法治疗。热带非洲部落社会通过口头代代相传，管理使用药用植物治疗“非洲”疾病的本土知识，随着这些社会的快速西方化，迫切需要在这些知识永远丢失之前记录下来。
本研究记录了乌干达西部鲁昆吉里区 Bwambara 次县当地社区用于治疗“非洲”疾病的药用植物物种。
使用半结构式问卷和访谈进行了一项横断面研究。收集的数据包括植物物种名称、使用的植物部位、治疗的疾病、草药制剂的制备方法和给药方式。共有 196 名受访者参加了这项研究。使用描述性统计和信息共识因子对数据进行分析和呈现。
我们记录了 67 种药用植物物种，分布在 27 个科和 62 个属中。报告最多的物种属于菊科。最常报告的药用物种是 Chenopodium opulifolium（27）、Sesbania sesban（26）、Thevetia peruviana（25）、Leonotis nepetifolia（23）、Momordica foetida（23）、Euphorbia hirta（21）和 Cassia mimosoides（20）。叶子是最常用的植物部位，煎剂是主要的制剂方法。水是制备这些药物的主要介质，这些药物口服给药，而凡士林是用于软膏的主要介质。报告的药用植物物种用于治疗 39 种疾病，这些疾病被聚类为 10 个国际初级保健分类（ICPC）疾病类别。在不同疾病的药用植物物种的使用方面，受访者之间存在高度共识，特别是以下类别的疾病：神经（FIC=0.90）、一般和未指定（FIC=0.87）、消化（FIC=0.86）和女性生殖（FIC=0.82）。
乌干达西部鲁昆吉里区 Bwambara 次县的当地社区使用丰富多样的药用植物物种来管理各种“非洲”疾病。因此，药用植物使用者和科学家之间的合作至关重要，这有助于基于本土知识发现新药。
