Antiviral Research: Experts Explore The Potentials Of African Plants

The Cameroon chapter of the Network of Scientific Journalists of Francophone Africa (Réseau des Journalistes Scientifiques d'Afrique Francophone) RJSAF on Saturday, October 10, 2026, hosted a high-level scientific webinar on the theme, "Antiviral Research: A New Path with African Plants?" Moderated by science journalist Romulus Dorval Kuessié, the session brought together leading researchers and media professionals to explore how modern scientific methodologies can unlock the therapeutic potential of African biodiversity to address pressing global public health challenges.

Traditional Pharmacopoeia

The webinar highlighted the pioneering work of Dr. Olivier Ndogo Eteme, a 37-year-old lecturer-researcher in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry in the University of Yaoundé I and a visiting researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Dr. Ndogo Eteme presented his research on bioactive cyclotides isolated from Allexis cauliflora - a plant belonging to the Violaceae family - as potential antiviral candidates against poxviruses.

His experimental work specifically evaluated two cyclic peptides, Alca1 and Alca2, against the Vaccinia virus, an Orthopoxvirus used as a surrogate model in research targeting Mpox, a disease that continues to pose a major health threat across the African continent.

Modern Science

His findings demonstrated that Alca1 and Alca2 exhibit promising median inhibitory concentrations ($IC_{50}$) and selectivity indices against the virus. Proving that Cameroonian biological resources contain precise, isolable, and sequenceable chemical entities that warrant further biomedical investigation.

Standard Operating Procedures

Invited to provide expert commentary, Dr. Patrick Hervé Diboué Betote, a researcher with the Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies, IMPM and the Centre for Research on Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine, CRPMT, affirmed that Dr. Ndogo Eteme rigorously followed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) throughout his isolation and evaluation processes.

Pharmacological Rigor

However, speaking from a pharmacologist's perspective, Dr. Diboué Betote emphasized the critical distinction between traditional empirical usage and rigorous scientific validation: "Because he started from empirical and ancestral knowledge, Dr. Nd...