Abstract

In Nigeria, herbal treatment of various types of diseases is very common using medicinal plants. In the present study, preliminary investigation on the In vitroantitrypanosomal activity of methanolic and aqueous extracts of stem bark extracts of Nauclea latifolia was evaluated on Trypanosoma congolense. Blood obtained from a highly infected mice with T. congolense (10⁷) was incubated with methanolic, and aqueous extract at 20 mg, 10 mg and 5 mg/ml and Diminivet^R(diminazene aceturate) at 10 mg, 200 and 50 µg/ml in a 96 well  microtiter plate. The results revealed that methanolic and aqueous extracts had activity at 20 mg/ml.  Phytochemical screening of the methanolic and aqueous extract of the bark showed that they both had flavonoids, saponnin, terpenoids and tannin. The aqueous and methanolic extract appears to show some potential activity againstT. congolense.

Key words: Nauclea latifolia, Trypanocidal, Trypanosoma congolense