Systematic review and meta-analysis of Traditional Medicinal Plants for Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Africa

Abstract

Condition or domain being studied

Population health; Intervention Regime; World Health Organization Ordinal Scale

Pulmonary tuberculosis is a global, ancient, and chronic disease affecting the lungs. It is treated and managed by

the administration of Western regimes. Despite the availability of these drugs, the use of traditional medicinal

plants by African populations is still a continuing practice as an alternative and complementary medicine to manage

tuberculosis. Recent studies investigating the efficacy of these traditional medicinal plants have yielded positive

findings, as reported in the literature. With extensive drug resistance among Tuberculosis patients, this alone has

motivated researchers to test and investigate if indeed medicinal plants could be effective as alternative therapies

to consider for tuberculosis management in Africa.

Rationale for the review

Medicinal plants for tuberculosis treatment have been studied both in vitro and in vivo (1, 2) and continue to be

investigated in Africa (3). However, the literature reports based on scientific evidence have not clearly stated the

level of their efficacy and have not strongly highlighted the important data on these African medicinal plants. the

degree of their efficacy remains poorly documented, which is the focus of this review. Numerous studies across

Africa continue to investigate the efficacy of traditional medicinal plants as potential candidates for the discovery

and development of novel tuberculosis treatments (4). This review aims to collate and provide a detailed literature

review of all African Medicinal Plants that have been tested for their anti-Mycobacterial properties. It will not only

add value to the existing body of knowledge but also report on the degree of efficacy demonstrated by individual

tested medicinal plants. The medicinal plants that have demonstrated efficacy could be further studied by scientific

investigators to move forward in inventing novel drugs from natural products. So, the research question in this

review is whether the tested medicines are indeed effective.

Review objectives

1. Are African traditional medicinal plants scientifically documented for their efficacy?
2. Does literature provide the degree of efficacy of all investigated traditional medicinal plants of Africa?To what

level do the medicinal plants exhibit their efficacy against tuberculosis?

1. Does literature provide the degree of safety of all studied African medicinal Plants that have exhibited efficacy?
2. Which plant parts have been studied and have displayed efficacy?
3. Which study models have been used to study the efficacy of African traditional medicinal plants? and to what

degree?