Morinda lucida compares with chili pepper in lowering fever —Study

Changing weather is often accompanied by fever. Most people fall sick as soon as there is even the slightest change in the season. A rise in body temperature, body ache, and head pain are some of the common symptoms of fever.

Fever is the body’s response to germs, exhaustion from heat, a cancerous tumour, medications like antibiotics and medicines used to treat seizures or high blood pressure, vaccines and inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. It merely indicates that something is not right in the body.

Medical doctors have managed and treated fever due to different diseases by various means. However, the prominence of the so-called ‘fever of unknown origin’, a type of fever higher than 38.3°C which persists without diagnosis for at least three weeks despite at least one week’s investigation in a hospital, makes it imperative to identify novel fever-lowering (antipyretic) agents.

Many products derived from plants have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. It is estimated that about 80 percent of the world population presently relies on various plants and plant parts as medicines to meet their health needs. Some of these therapies have been confirmed and backed by scientific research.

Top on the list of plants and plant parts used for febrile conditions are Spondias mombin (Iyeye in Yoruba), Drymaria cordata (chick weed; “Calabar woman’s eye”), Acacia nilotica (Baani/Boni in Yoruba and Bagaruwa in Hausa); Acalypha wilkesiana (Aworoso in Yoruba) and Alstonia boonei (Egbu/Egun in Igbo and Ahun in Yoruba).

Others include Carissa edulis (Karen kafo in Hausa and Behohi in Fulani); Combretum micranthumg (Gumumi in Fulani), Dennettia tripetala (Pepper fruit or Igbere in Yoruba or Mmimi in Igbo); Morinda lucida (oruwo in Yoruba) and Chili pepper.

Now, experts in what is probably the first study to give credence to the fever-lowering effect and potency of aqueous extracts of Morinda lucida leaves and Chili pepper in albino rats said both had comparable fever-lowering effect with indomethacin, a conventional medication for reducing fever and pain.

The study published in the 2023 edition of the African Health Sciences involved Dr Adedotun Adefolalu at the Federal University Lafia in collaboration with Dr Bamidele Owoyele and Dr Ayoade Adesokan, both at the University of Ilorin.

Both Chili pepper and Morinda lucida produced significant reduction in rectal temperature after 120 minutes in the rats compared with animals in the control group. Also, the fever-lowering activities of the two extracts at 100mg/kg and 200mg/ kg were comparable to 5mg/kg of indomethacin, with apparent dose dependence in the fever-lowering activities of both extracts.

In the study, 30 animals were divided into six groups. Group A was orally administered normal saline. Group B was served indomethacin (5 mg/kg), while groups C and D received aqueous extract of Chili pepper at 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg, 17 hours post-induction of fever. Groups E and F were administered extract of Morinda lucida at the same doses. Rectal temperature of the animals was taken at 60-, 90- and 120-minutes post-treatment.

Morinda lucida, natively called ‘oruwo’ is used traditionally as antimalarial, as well as for its fever-lowering effect. Its green leaves are used as an ingredient of “fever teas”, which are usually taken for the traditional treatment of fever and malaria.

Capsicum frutescens or chili pepper is believed traditionally to possess antimalarial and fever-lowering properties, and is usually used in decoctions, commonly called ‘agbo ‘ in south-western Nigeria, where it is called ‘ata wewe’ or ‘ata ijosi ‘.

Chili pepper is used and loved the world over as a condiment added to food, fresh, dried, refined, and ground, and as the principal or incidental ingredient in sauces. Chili pepper is known for its pungent and biting sensation.

Many studies have been carried out to investigate possible medicinal uses of capsaicin. It was shown that capsaicin, the substance that gives pepper its pungent and biting sensation, can kill Helicobacter pylori, the germ that causes stomach ulcer.

Chili pepper has preventive and therapeutic properties for many ailments such as different types of cancer, rheumatism, stiff joints, bronchitis and chest colds with cough and headache, arthritis, heart arrhythmias and many other ailments.

In Nigeria, Chili pepper is used either solely, or in combination with other herbs as decoctions in treating various diseases, especially malaria. This is despite its strong biting sensation.

Previously, studies suggested that capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers, also stimulates the nerves that respond only to mild increases in temperature—the ones that give the sensation of moderate warmth.

In India, using ingredients from mom’s kitchen to cure fever has always benefited everyone. Take a warm glass of milk, mix a teaspoon of turmeric in it, and make the child drink it. It may not taste as great, but the health benefits are myriad. This is a natural remedy for fever in babies.

The active ingredient in turmeric is called curcumin and has been proved to have similar effects as an anti-inflammatory medicine. Having it every night will boost the child’s immunity and reduce the chances of fever.