Oryema Christine, Rutaro Karlmax, Oyet Sam William, Malinga Geoffrey Maxwell
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Gulu University, P.O. Box 166, Gulu, Uganda.
Department of Biochemistry and Sports Science, College of Natural Sciences, Makerere University, P. O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
Trop Med Health. 2021 Nov 22;49(1):92. doi: 10.1186/s41182-021-00384-2.
Tuberculosis (TB) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the 13th leading cause of death worldwide. The emergence of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) poses a major health security threat. Plants have traditionally been used as a source of medicine, since olden days and 80% of the communities in Africa still rely on herbal medicines for their healthcare. In many parts of Uganda, some plants have shown ethno-pharmacological prospects for the treatment of TB, and yet they have not been fully researched.
This study aimed to document plant species used traditionally by the herbalists and non-herbalist communities of Kitgum and Pader districts for managing symptoms of TB.
An ethnobotanical study was carried out in 42 randomly selected villages in Kitgum and Pader districts between August 2020 and January 2021. Information was obtained by administering semi-structured questionnaires to 176 respondents identified by snowball and random sampling methods. Data were analysed and presented using descriptive statistics and Informant Consensus Factor (ICF).
Overall, only 27% of the respondents were knowledgeable about plants used for managing symptoms of TB. Nine plant species belonging to six families (Mimosaceae, Apiaceae, Lamiaceae, Rutaceae, Loganiaceae and Rubiaceae) were used to manage symptoms of TB. The most representative family was Rutaceae with three species, followed by Rubiaceae (two species) and the rest of the families were represented by one species each. The most frequently recorded species were Steganotaenia araliacea Hochst. (8.5%), Gardenia ternifolia Schumach. & Thonn (6.8%) and Albizia adianthifolia (Schum.) W.Wight (6.8%). Most of the medicinal plants were trees, and roots (69%) were the most frequently plant part used, followed by the bark (16%) and leaves (15%). The most common method of preparation was by pounding and mixing concoction with water. The administration of the concoctions was mostly done orally.
The results established the existence of few medicinal plants for managing symptoms of TB among the Acholi communities which could be used in developing new, effective plant-based antimycobacterial drugs. The few plants mentioned might face conservation threats due to exploitations of the roots. Phytochemical and toxicological studies are recommended to identify active compounds responsible for antimycobacterial activity.
结核分枝杆菌引起的结核病是全球第13大致死原因。耐多药结核病（MDR-TB）的出现对健康安全构成重大威胁。自古以来，植物就一直被用作药物来源，非洲80%的社区仍依靠草药进行医疗保健。在乌干达的许多地区，一些植物已显示出治疗结核病的民族药理学前景，但尚未得到充分研究。
本研究旨在记录基特古姆和帕德地区的草药医生和非草药医生社区传统上用于管理结核病症状的植物种类。
2020年8月至2021年1月期间，在基特古姆和帕德地区随机选择的42个村庄开展了一项民族植物学研究。通过向176名通过滚雪球和随机抽样方法确定的受访者发放半结构化问卷来获取信息。使用描述性统计和 informant Consensus Factor（ICF）对数据进行分析和呈现。
总体而言，只有27%的受访者了解用于管理结核病症状的植物。属于六个科（含羞草科、伞形科、唇形科、芸香科、马钱科和茜草科）的九种植物被用于管理结核病症状。最具代表性的科是芸香科，有三种，其次是茜草科（两种），其余科各有一个代表种。记录最频繁的物种是刺苞窃衣Hochst.（8.5%）、栀子Schumach. & Thonn（6.8%）和合欢（Schum.）W.Wight（6.8%）。大多数药用植物是树木，根（69%）是最常使用的植物部位，其次是树皮（16%）和叶子（15%）。最常见的制备方法是捣碎并与水混合调制。调制物大多口服。
研究结果表明，阿乔利社区中用于管理结核病症状的药用植物很少，这些植物可用于开发新的、有效的植物性抗分枝杆菌药物。由于根部被采挖，少数提及的植物可能面临保护威胁。建议进行植物化学和毒理学研究，以确定具有抗分枝杆菌活性的活性化合物。
