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The study was done to assess the ameliorative effects of co-administration of methanol extract of Bridelia ferruginea stem bark and diminazene aceturate on trypanosomosis induced testicular and haematological changes in infected male rat. Twenty five male rats were used in the study and assigned into five groups (n=5). Trypanosoma brucei was inoculated into Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 rats except Group 5. Diminazene aceturate (7 mg/kg) was administered to group 1. Methanol extract of B. ferruginea (20 mg/kg) was administered to Group 2. Diaminazine aceturate (7 mg/kg) and B. Ferruginea (20 mg/kg) were administered to Group 3. The infected and untreated rats constituted Group 4. The normal control was Group 5. Parameters assessed were weight of the testicles, testicular sperm and epididymal sperm counts, packed cell volume, haemoglobin concentration and red blood and white blood cell counts. At the end of the experiment, there were significant increases in the testicular sperm (56.40±4.55) and epididymal sperm counts (24.34 ± 0.5) of group 3 compared to Group 2 – testicular sperm reserve (51.34 ± 6.19), epididymal sperm reserve (19.38 ± 4.14) and Group 1 – testicular sperm reserve (54.01± 6.92), epididymal sperm reserve (20 ± 5.79). The WBC was significantly higher in infected untreated (13. 70 ± 5.15) compared to Groups 1 (10.96 ± 1.21), 2 (10.36 ± 2.09) and 3 (10.55 ± 0.49). The results above showed that co-administration of diminazene aceturate and B. ferruginea extract produced optimum ameliorative effect. Key words: Bridelia ferruginea, diminazene aceturate, testicular changes, trypanosomosis.

The present study was carried out to evaluate the antidiabetic activity of catechins isolated from Bridelia ferruginea in previous studies. Epigallocatechin (EGC) and Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) isolated from B. ferruginea were administrated to streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice to evaluate their anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hyperlipidemic effects. Then, biochemical parameters were assayed in different groups of streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. The level of fasting blood glucose levels, triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice were significantly decreased after daily oral administration of EGC and EGCG at doses of 10 mg/kg/day, for 21 days. Glucose intolerance was significantly reduced in streptozotocin induced diabetic mice treated with catechins. These results suggest that catechins constituents from B. ferruginea, revealed significant anti-hyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic activity in type 2 diabetes. Key words: Bridelia ferruginea, epigallocatechin, streptozotocin, diabetes, medicinal plant.

In Benin, stored yam chips are severely attacked by Dinoderus porcellus Lesne which causes important losses. The use of medicinal plants combined with the insect-resistant yam chips can be an efficient alternative of chemical insecticides for yam chips protection. This study aims to evaluate an integrated pest management of D. porcellus using combined effects of resistant yam chips (Boniwoure, Gaboubaba, Wonmangou, and Yakanougo landraces) and leaves powder of Bridelia ferruginea Benth, Blighia sapida Juss and Khaya senegalensis Cronquist. For that, repellence, weight loss, mortality and progeny production were evaluated with Antouka commercial insecticide as positive control and untreated yam chips as negative control. The results revealed that all treatments are strongly repellent and showed important reproductive inhibition rate and remarkable inhibition of emergency of D. porcellus progeny. The weight loss due of yam chips treated with the three medicinal plants was not significantly different from those treated with Antouka, but significantly different from untreated yam chips. Only K. senegalensis at 2% (w/w) combined with Wonmangou landrace was able to achieve 66.2% of mortality after 21 days of experimentation. Hence, combination of resistant yam chips with leaves powder of these three medicinal plants could be promoted for integrated management of D. porcellus. Key words: Dinoderus porcellus, integrated pest management, medicinal plants, resistance varietal, storage, yam chips.

The major objective of this study was to evaluate the transaminase activities of albino rats fed with aqueous extract of Bridelia ferruginea stem bark. Sixteen (16) albino rats with weight ranging between 100-190 g were used. The rats were divided into four groups; with group four as the control group. Increasing doses (100, 200 and 400 mg kg-1 body weight) of the extract were administered orally to the other three groups for a period of two weeks. Compared with the control, the aspartate (AST) and alanine (ALT) activities significantly (P< 0.05) increased in the serum and liver tissues whereas no significant consistent difference was observed for the kidney tissues. The results of this study justifies the widespread consumption of B. ferruginea and has shown that daily, oral administration of the aqueous extract of B. ferruginea stem bark for the duration of the experiment, might somewhat confer protection basically to the liver and kidney although higher prolonged doses/usage might be dangerous. Key words: Aqueous extract, Bridelia ferruginea, Aspartate (AST) and Alanine (ALT) transaminase activity, Albino rats.