Browsing by Author "Chacha, Musa"

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Activity of sterols isolated from the leaves of commiphora swynnertonii (Burtt) against some nosocomial infectious bacteria
(The Journal of Phytopharmacology, 2022-09-04) Credo, David; Mabiki, Faith P.; Machumi, Francis; Chacha, Musa; Cornett, Claus
Commiphora swynnertonii (Burtt) is traditionally used for medicinal purposes both in humans and animals in Tanzania. Previously, its leaves extract has been demonstrated antibacterial activity. However, there is limited information on identification of pure compounds responsible for its observed antibacterial activity. Therefore, this study was conducted to isolate and evaluate antibacterial activity of pure compounds isolated from its leaves extract. Colum chromatographic separation of its dichloromethane leaves extract afforded the isolation of two sterols namely, Cholest-7-en-3β-ol (1) and β-sitosterol (2). Their structures were deduced by using NMR data experimentally obtained and comparison with spectral data available in literatures. The sterols were evaluated for activity against four nosocomial infectious bacteria namely; Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to determine Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC) by broth microdilution method. Cholest-7-en-3β-ol (1) demonstrated strong activity against S. aureus (MIC= 0.5 mg/ml) and weak activities (MIC >2mg/ml) against other bacteria. β-sitosterol (2) exhibited weak activities (MIC >2mg/ml) against all tested bacteria. Therefore, presence of antibacterial active compound(s) such as Cholest-7-en-3β-ol (1) among others in the leaves of C. swynnertonii can justify its earlier reported antibacterial activity and further confirms the claimed traditional uses of this plant in the treatment of bacterial infections.
Isolation and cytotoxicity evaluation of long chain bioactive compounds from commiphora swynnertonii (Burtt)
(Journal of Scientific and Innovative Research, 2022) Mabiki, Faith P; Machumi, Francis; Chacha, Musa
Commiphora swynnertonii (Burtt) is a medicinal plant with diverse traditional uses in Tanzania. However, there is limited information on isolation and cytotoxicity properties of bioactive compounds responsible for its pharmacological activities. Hence, this study attempted to isolate and assess toxicity properties of bioactive compounds from its leaves, stem barks and whole root. Isolation of bioactive compounds was done by column chromatography method. There structures were deduced with the aid of NMR and GC-MS data and comparison with spectral data available in the literatures. Cytotoxicity evaluation was done by brine shrimp lethality test (BSLT) method. Chromatographic separation led to isolation of Hexacosane (1), Ethyl octadecanoate (2) and Octacosanol (3) from the leaves; Ethyl pentadecanoate (4) and Hexacosanoic acid (5) from the stem barks and Ethyl tetradecanoate (6), Methyl pentadecanoate (7) and Ethyl hexadecanoate (8) from the whole root. BSLT evaluation revealed that all compounds were non-toxic to brine shrimp larvae (LC 50 >100 μg/ml). This study reports the isolation of these compounds for the first time from this plant, moreover, their presence demonstrates the usefulness of C. swynnertonii as a good source of pharmacological active reported compounds which authenticate its diverse uses in traditional medicine. Furthermore, the revealed non-toxic effect of these compounds shows safety and possibly its traditional use has no cytotoxicity effect. Yet, further studies on toxicity of these compounds are recommended.