M. cecropioides is a tree that grows with great rapidity in high forests of the tropical African zone stretching from Guinea to Zaire and Angola. The tree has smooth bark, grey to brownish-green in color with prominent brown lenticels (1). Ethnomedical uses of the plant leaves as oxytocic (2) antihypertensive (3-5) and antiglycaemic (6) agents have been scientifically validated, while hypotensi...

In a randomised prospective study of 68 women in spontaneous labour half were allocated to an ambulant group and half to a recumbent group. The duration of labour was significantly shorter, the need for analgesia significantly less, and the incidence of fetal heart abnormalities significantly smaller in the ambulant group than in the recumbent group. Apgar scores at one and five minutes were al...

Tonin, known for its specific and direct generation of angiotensin II, was highly purified from rat submaxillary gland and investigated for kininogenase activity. For the substrate, heat-treated plasma from ox blood, and highly purified low-molecular-weight (LMW) and high-molecular-weight (HMW) kininogens, were used. The reaction product formed at pH 8.0 well satisfied the characteristics of ki...