RISE AFNNET FELLOWS CONFERENCE 15 TH FEB.2012,KAMPALA UGANDA. Dr.Ochwang'i Dominic, Department of Veterinary Anatomy&Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nairobi, Kenya

Project title IN-VITRO PHARMACOPHYSIOLOGICAL ANTI-CANCER POTENTIAL OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN KAKAMEGA COUNTY,KENYA.

University Supervisors  Dr. Charles Kimwele, PhD Dept. Of Vet.Anatomy and Physiology  Dr.Jemimah Oduma,PhD Dept. Of Vet.Anatomy and Physiology  Prof.P.K.Gathumbi,PhD Dept. Of Vet.Pathology,Parasitology and Microbiology  Prof.Stephen G. Kiama, PhD Dept. Of Vet.Anatomy and Physiology.

Anand et al.,2008 Hallmarks of Cancer

 Account for 13% of all deaths yearly(invasive cancer),7.6 million people died; most common: Lung cancer 1.4 million deaths Stomach cancer 74,00 deaths Liver cancer 700,000 deaths Colorectal cancer 610,000 deaths Breast cancer 460,000 deaths  Half of the cases in the developing world  50 Kenyans die daily from various cancers,80,000 cases diagnosed each year. Epidemiology of cancer WHO,2010,Jemal A,et al 2011

1.Radiation therapy2.Surgery3.Chemotherapy : Antimetabolite drugs (e.g fludarabine and hydroxyurea) Inhibitors of topoisomerase (e.g camptothecin, topotecan)DNA alkylating agents(e.g cisplastin,temozolomide ) Intercalating agents(e.g doxorubicin,daunorubicin) Substances that interfere with tubuline(e.g Vinca alkaloids and taxotere) 4.Complementary and alternative medicine: Herbal? Holland and James,2007,Vickers A,2004 Current treatment regimes

 Typhonium flagelliforme (Mohan et al, 2008)  Murraya koenigii(Syam et al 2011)  Catharanthus roseus which yields vinblastine and vincristine(Lucy and Edgar 1999)  Vitex doniana, Flueggea virosa, Ovariodendron anisatum, Launea cornuta, Grewia villosa, Maytenus obscura and Prunus africana(Kareru et al, 2007).

Identify and document anti-cancer medicinal plants used in Kakamega County, Kenya Objective of study

Justification Current therapies are effective in killing cancer cells but also kill normal cells Convectional cancer treatments too costly, majority resort to herbal remedies Most complementary and alternative anti-cancer remedies have not been well studied, especially in Kenya. Need to identify and document anti-cancer herbal remedies;effective,safe,practical,reliable,affordable,access ible,self-administered and culturally acceptable. Vicker,2004

Methodology Butere, Mumias, Matungu, Khwisero, Shinyalu, Lurambi, ikolomani, Lugari and Malava Study area

Semi-structures questionnaire Focus group discussions Ethnobotanical survey Data collection

 32 consenting traditional herbal medical practitioners were interviewed.  Herbalists were randomly selected from Kakamega county.

Results  66 plants belonging to 59 genera and 32 families were cited.  Most commonly cited plant species were Spathodea campanulata P.Beauv.ssp.nilotica(Seem), Microglossa pyrifolia (Lam.) Kuntze, Harungana madagascariensis Lam.ex poir, Prunus africana(Hook.f.)kalkman, Cyphostemma serpens(A.Rich) and Aloe spp.

Commonest plant families documented for treatment of cancer (Table 1a)

Commonest plant families documented for treatment of cancer (Table 1b)

Conclusions  The findings of study show that a variety of medicinal plants are used in management and treatment of cancer.  The main mode of administration is oral.  Many medicinal plants are taken as a concoction.

Pending work  Extract preparation  Brine shrimp lethality test9 Meyer et al 1982,Nguta et al 2011) Invitro physiological tests using human cell lines  MTT assay(Ghavami et al 2010)  Antifungal MIC Test (Ghavami et al, 2010)  Hemolytic Assay (Ghavami et al 2010, Bock and Muller,1994)  Apoptosis induction assays(Machana et al,2011) which include: a)Nuclear staining with DAPI fluorescent dye b) DNA fragmentation detection assay c) Alkylating activity assay  Phytochemistry.

Acknowledgement:Carnegie Corporation of New York Regional Initiative in Science and Education- African Natural Product Training Network(RISE-AFNNET) for funding.  Mr.Mutiso,Mr.Mugweru, Kakamega herbalists and my supervisors.