SHARAIBI OLUBUNMI JOSEPHINE

Botany

At the Botany department office

Appointment on Visitation important

Topic: MEDICINAL PLANTS USED FOR CONTRACEPTION IN NIGERIA.

Description:

INTRODUCTION

Evaluation of herbs for anti-fertility effects has been on the rise to identify effective and safe substances to control population explosion world wide. Population explosion will have negative impact on the economic policies and create imbalance in the social economic infrastructure of the world. Family planning has been promoted through several methods such injections, intrauterine device, contraceptive pils and surgery. These methods are expensive and presented with serious adverse effects. Attention has now been shifted to the use of medicinal plants for possible contraceptive effect.

AIM: To identify and evaluate plants with contraceptive activity.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To identify and document plants in Nigeria with contraceptive effect

2. To determine their phytoconstituents

3. To evaluate the levels of their potential toxicities

METHODOLOGY

1. Identification of plants will be done through ethnobotanical surveys and literature search online.

2. Phytochemical analysis will be done through GCMS and HPLC.

3. Potential toxicities of the herbs will be determined on cell lines using MTT assay

CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE

Some of the plants used for contraception in Nigeria may be toxic at certain concentrations. This research will identify and evaluate the potential toxicities of these plants.

#	Certificate	School	Year
1.	Ph.D (Botany/ Ethnobotany)	Botany/University of Lagos	2015

Toxicological Evaluations of Commonly Used Medicinal Plants in Nigeria

INTRODUCTION.

Medicinal plants have been used since ancient times to treat myriads of sicknesses and diseases. They present easily accessible and cheaper means of primary health care among the developing and underdeveloped nations of the world.  They contain phytochemicals  like alkaloids, phenols, saponins, tannins etc. which are referred to as active principles or secondary metabolites responsible for their therapeutic actions. Although, it was erroneously believed that medicinal plants are safe for consumption and don't have adverse effects; this is not true because at certain concentrations, medicinal plants may become toxic. At concentrations above their lethal dose, they may adversely affect the integrity of the vital body organs such as liver, kidney heart etc.which can complicate the illness or eventually lead to death.

AIM

To investigate the toxicity of selected medicinal plants commonly used in Lagos and its Environs.

Objectives

1. To analyze the phytoconstituents of twenty (20) selected commonly used medicinal plants.

2. To determine their lethal dose (LD ₅₀).

3. To investigate their toxicity in vitro 

4. To determine their toxicity in vivo using  MTT (-(3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay.

METHODOLOGY

Selected medicinal plants would be collected from the wild and authenticated by the Plant Taxonomist. Voucher specimens would be deposited in the herbarium for reference purpose. The collected plants would be rinsed thoroughly, air dried, ground into powder and stored in air tight containers. Extracts would be prepared using distilled water, acetone and methanol. In vitro toxicity testing would be carried out using brine shrimp toxicity assay while  in vivo testing would be done  using  MTT (-(3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay.

CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE

This research will provide evidence on the toxicity of commonly used medicinal plants in Lagos, thereby create an avenue to caution the populace on the excessive use of herbs.

SHARAIBI OLUBUNMI is a Lecturer I at the Department of Botany

SHARAIBI has a Ph.D in Botany/ Ethnobotany from Botany/University of Lagos