title: Anti-giardial activity of gastrointestinal remedies of the Luo of east Africa.
abstract: Activity in an in vitro assay with Giardia lamblia provided a test of the validity of a quantitative methodology used in an ethnobotanical survey of the Luo people of the Lake Victoria basin of Kenya and Tanzania. Forty-five taxa of remedies for gastrointestinal problems were reported by four or more independent informants and a log-linear model was used to calculate a statistical measure of informant consensus. Methanolic extracts of 21 of 36 taxa assayed were lethal or inhibited growth of Giardia trophozoites at 1000 ppm; 7 species were lethal at 500 ppm. Non-cathartic species are more likely to be active than cathartics. Lethal species of non-cathartics are reported by informants more frequently than non-lethal species although the lack of statistical significance did not provide satisfactory support for the validity of the quantitative methodology as a predictor of efficacious remedies.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016829:Giardia lamblia / Q000187:drug effects; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007630:Kenya; D016014:Linear Models; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D000432:Methanol / Q000737:chemistry; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013636:Tanzania
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D000432:Methanol