Medicinal plants.

Dental caries is one of the most prevalent oral diseases worldwide and is closely associated with cariogenic microorganisms, particularly bacteria belonging to the genus Streptococcus. In western Côte d'Ivoire, several medicinal plants are traditionally used as chewing sticks for oral hygiene, although their antibacterial properties remain poorly documented. This study evaluated the antibacterial activity of aqueous and hydro-ethanolic extracts of Mezoneuron benthamianum Baill. and Strychnos afzelii Gilg. against Streptococcus spp. isolated from dental caries. Plant extracts were prepared by maceration in distilled water and 70% ethanol. Antibacterial activity was evaluated using the agar well diffusion method, while the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were determined using the broth macrodilution method. Hydro-ethanolic extraction produced the highest yields, reaching 17.60% for Mezoneuron benthamianum and 16.90% for Strychnos afzelii. Neither the aqueous nor the hydro-ethanolic extracts of Strychnos afzelii exhibited antibacterial activity against the tested strains. In contrast, both extracts of Mezoneuron benthamianum inhibited the growth of all tested Streptococcus spp., with inhibition zones ranging from 13.00 ± 0.50 mm to 18.00 ± 0.58 mm. The minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were both 25 mg/mL, resulting in a minimum bactericidal concentration to minimum inhibitory concentration ratio of 1, indicating a bactericidal effect. These findings provide experimental support for the traditional use of M. benthamianum as a chewing stick plant and suggest its potential source of antibacterial compounds for future oral health applications.

The excess use of drugs for various ailments is resulting in increasing cases of drug-induced nephrotoxicity. Acute kidney injury is the most common type of drug-induced nephrotoxicity, which accounts for 85% of cases of nephrotoxicity. Herbal medications, due to the presence of various phytoconstituents, possess nephroprotective activity and are used in the treatment of kidney disorders like acute kidney injury, nephrotic syndrome, chronic interstitial nephritis, etc. The present review aimed to elucidate the list of medicinal plants which are scientifically proven to have nephroprotective activity against drug-induced nephrotoxicity. 

Since immemorial time, utilization of medicinal plants has been in practice by the practitioner to treat variety of ailments without knowing the active bio-compound which lead to the reduction or elimination of symptoms of the disease. Recent advancement in technologies became a turning point in health care setting where many medicinal plants which are gifted from the nature were being employed in research to synthesized variety of phytochemical compounds which were responsible for the various pharmacological properties of the plants. Few compounds which were plant derivative have been patented for the commercial use to treat illness. In this review, medicinal plants related to few pharmacological properties like anticancer, antiviral, antidiabetics, antifungal were reviewed and documented. Also the phytochemical constituents were reviewed and documented. This review proved few related pharmacological properties of the plants where these plants were employed in the folk medicine. Advancement in technologies and also research fundings provide the suitable platform for the researchers to conduct extensive research on the medicinal plants.