Chemotherapeutic Activities of Selected Medicinal Plant Extracts Used in Management of AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections in The Lake Victoria Basin of Kenya.

Abstract

The current management of HIV is highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which has challenges such as toxicity, emergence of drug resistance, and mutations. This has led to quest for alternative medicine from plants which have been explored for their antimicrobial activities, cytotoxicity, and anti-proliferative properties. The chemotherapeutic components of plant preparations in Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) of Kenya has not been fully determined. This the study determined the potential antimicrobial proper- ties, cytotoxicity and anti-proliferative effects of Piptadeniastrum africanum (bark), Chaemacrista nigricans (leaves), Kigelia africana (fruit), and Centella asiatica (leaves) extracts used in the management of HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in LVB. Methods: Twenty-four hours old cultures of S. aureus, E. coli, and C. albicans, were used to investigate the antimicrobial properties of the plant extracts. Morphological changes in CCRF-CEM cell lines and use of MTT assay were used to investigate the cytotoxicity and antiproliferative level of plant extracts. Results:S. aureus (df = 3, P = 0.019), E. coli (df = 3, P = 0.017) and C. albicans (df = 3, P = 0.017). The plant extracts showed antiproliferative effect on CCRF-CEM cells within 72 hours treatment period (P. africanum R2=0.9962, P=0.0019, C. nigricans R2=0.9935, P = 0.0032, K. africana R2 = 0.9706, P = 0.0148, C. asiatica R2 = 0.9954, P = 0.0023). Conclusion: - tions caused by bacteria and fungi, even at high concentrations without cytotoxicity. Therefore, this study provides evidence-based information on the chemotherapeutic va