Kookonesuo Can Heal Buluri Ulcer - Researchers

Mampong (Ash), Oct. 5, GNA - A team of researchers at Asante Mampong have found that cold bark extract of Kookonesuo (Spathodia campanulata) could heal Buruli Ulcer. The cold bark extract, they said, applied dermatological or on the skin, heals Buruli Ulcer in the post-nodular phase but does not regenerate lost tissues.

In the research, which was a pre-test carried on four people medically diagnosed as Buruli Ulcer patients over one year period, the researchers also found that the plant had anti-bacterial property. The stability was, however, suspect. Mr Jacob Amoah, District Pharmacist of the Mampong District Hospital and head of the research team that also included two medical doctors, announced this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Mampong on Wednesday.

A cold bark extract was generated after subjecting the bark to cold compression using a plant oil extractor. According to Mr Amoah gauze was then soaked in a freshly prepared aqueous extract of Kookonesuo and applied to the identified patients' wounds daily.

The research guaranteed the plant's efficacy nation-wide but could not guarantee its efficacy beyond Ghana as no research had been done to assess that.

Mr Amoah called for the establishment of extractors in endemic communities to facilitate daily extraction and application to address post-nodular Buruli Ulcer. The researchers called for a further research to be conducted to see if orally administered Kookonesuo, which has traditionally been used over 40 years with no adverse effects, could prevent the development of nodules and ulcers from the pre-nodular phase in those who had the mycobacterium in them but do not show any clinical signs. Mr Amoah wanted the instability associated with the antibacterial active principle in the plant resolved so that Ghana could supply endemic countries with its Kookonesuo products as a contribution towards global eradication of Buruli Ulcer.

"This will need a strong political will" Mr Amoah said, urging Buruli Ulcer patients to harness directly the potential of "Kookonesuo" which abounded in Ghana to heal their ulcers.