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Vitex simplicifolia Oliv. (Verbenaceae) is a perennial shrub or small tree which grows to a height of aproximatively 8 m and is widely distributed from Egypt to Guinea. In Burkina Faso, the plant is used for internal or external use to treat various diseases like skin diseases, dermatitis, bilharzia, migraines, fever, aches, amoebiasis, sore teeth, colic, infant tetanus(Nacoulma,1996). Our ethnobotanical investigations have revealed that this plant is also used in the treatment of skin infections and wounds healing. In Burkina Faso, infectious diseases are the leading cause of infant mortality (2.37%) and maternal (14.6%), therefore they constitute public health problems. The treatment of skin diseases dates back to ancient times, and many treatments were using medicinal plants. About 30% of traditional remedies are used to treat wounds and skin lesions, compared to only 1-3% of modern drugs (Mantle et al., 2001). The healing process is an immune response that begins after injury and takes place in three stages: vascular and inflammatory stage, phase of tissue repair and phase of maturation. A drug having simultaneously the potential antioxidant and antimicrobial activities may be a good therapeutic agent to accelerate cicatrization and wound healing [Houghton et al., 2005; Phillips et al., 1991; Heike et al., 1999]. Aromatherapy is now considered to be another alternative way in healing people, and therapeutic values of aromatic plants lie in their volatile constituents such as monoterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids and phenolic compounds that produce a definite physiological action on the human body [Bruneton, 1993].To the best of our knowledge, there is no report on pharmacological studies of this plant. The present work reported results of a detailed investigation of |
