Trypanocidal properties of Terminalia ivorensis A. Chev. (Combretaceae)

Human African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) cause considerable mortality and morbidity throughout the world with Trypansoma brucei, T. gambiense and T. brucei rhodesiense as the major causative agents. The Terminalia ivorensis gradient extracts were tested against T. brucei rhodesiense parasites and the E.D50 values of 11.11 and 12.32 μg/mL were obtained for the ethyl acetate and ethanolic gradient extracts respectively. The column fractions of the ethyl acetate fraction gave E.D50 value between 1.98 and 5.46 μg/mL for the very active fractions indicating prospect for the development of potential trypanocidal agent from the plant. Keywords: Terminalis ivorensis, Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiensis, trypanocidal African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines Vol. 3(2) 2006: 51-5