Antimicrobial activity, toxicity and retrospective clinical effectiveness of Kantinka BA and Kantinka Herbaltics, two multi-component-herbal products used in the management of infectious diseases in Ghana

Bernard K. Turkson; Desmond Nkrumah; Reinhard  Isaac Nketia; Alfred Ofori Agyemang; Isaac Kingsley Amponsah; Burnett Tetteh Accam; Merlin L.K. Mensah; Yvonne Boateng

doi:10.4081/idhm.2024.389

Authors

Bernard K. Turkson
bentsi2000@yahoo.com
Department of Herbal Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4990-7725
Desmond Nkrumah Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9579-2762
Reinhard Isaac Nketia Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1157-9201
Alfred Ofori Agyemang Institute of Traditional and Alternative Medicine, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Kumasi, Ghana. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7776-2834
Isaac Kingsley Amponsah Department of Herbal Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi; Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5587-1071
Burnett Tetteh Accam Department of Mathematics, College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Gibraltar. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3338-0946
Merlin L.K. Mensah Department of Herbal Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Yvonne Boateng Herbal and Homeopathic Medicine Department, Food and Drugs Authority, Accra, Ghana.

There is an upsurge in the incidence of persons living with infectious diseases and their associated symptoms. Also, there is increased resistance and high cost of available synthetic antimicrobial therapeutic agents. This calls for screening candidate herbal products to examine the risk-to-benefit ratio for users. Moreover, there are inadequate proven scientific studies to assess the quality, effectiveness, and toxicity of herbal products that traditional medicine practitioners in Ghana commonly use for the management of infectious diseases such as those caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Candida albicans and the symptomatic management of symptoms associated with infections like cough, skin infections among others and gastritis. Kantinka BA and Kantinka Herbaltics, two multicomponent herbal products, have been used to manage the above-mentioned disease conditions.

The study aims to evaluate the in vitro antibacterial activity, assess the retrospective clinical effectiveness (clinical responses; the disappearance of presenting signs and symptoms associated with infections, gastritis), and the quality and toxicity of Kantinka BA and Kantinka Herbaltics. The products are registered by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).

Data on 200 patients who were diagnosed with infectious diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) / Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and associated symptoms from January 2018 to June 2018 was obtained from the Adom Herbal Clinic, and the Tafo Government Herbal Medicine Records Unit was assessed. The antibacterial activity of the products was evaluated using the HT-SPOTi method. Phytochemical screening, microbial load, and pH were carried out according to standard procedures. Acute toxicity was carried out according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guideline 425. Phytochemical screening, pH, and microbial load have been established for both products.

Binding toxicity studies revealed that the products are non-toxic at a 2000 mg/kg dose. The two products exhibited antimicrobial activities against the test organisms with Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Lethal Concentration (MLC) determined for Kantinka BA and Kantinka Herbaltics as 5% and 10% and <80, respectively, against C. albicans and N. gonorrhoeae - the signs and symptoms associated with infections disappeared during the management period.

The products are safe and may effectively manage some infectious diseases and associated symptoms.

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Turkson, B. K., Nkrumah, D., Nketia, R. . I., Ofori Agyemang, A., Amponsah, I. K., Tetteh Accam, B., Mensah, M. L., & Boateng, Y. (2024). Antimicrobial activity, toxicity and retrospective clinical effectiveness of Kantinka BA and Kantinka Herbaltics, two multi-component-herbal products used in the management of infectious diseases in Ghana. Infectious Diseases and Herbal Medicine, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/idhm.2024.389