Antimalarial Activity of 80% Methanol Extract of The Stem Bark of Syzygium Guineense (Willd.) DC. (Myrtaceae) In Mice Infected with Plasmodium Berghei
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Date
2015-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Malaria is one of the world’s most deadly infectious diseases. Spread and emergence of
antimalarial drug resistance is the major challenge that endangers all the recent gains in malaria
control. Medicinal plants are the key source of new effective antimalarials. Syzygium guineense
is commonly used by traditional healers’ in many parts of Africa including Ethiopia for treatment
of malaria. Thus, this study attempted to evaluate in vivo antimalarial activity of 80% methanol
extract of the stem bark of the plant in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA strain. To
this effect various doses (100, 200, 400 mg/kg) of the extract were evaluated for the antimalarial
effect using the four-day suppressive, curative and prophylactic tests. Parameters, including
percent parasitemia, survival time, body weight, body temperature and packed cell volume
(PCV) were determined using standard procedures. A significant (p<0.001) parasite suppression
of 11.20%, 34.04% and 45.05% was observed with 100, 200, and 400mg/kg of the extract,
respectively, in early infection. On the other hand, a significant parasite suppression was
observed by the extract in curative test with 400 mg/kg (36.3%, p<0.001) being the highest. In
the prophylactic test, 100, 200, and 400mg/kg of the extract produced 26.91%, 37.13%, 58.24%
parasite suppression, respectively. In addition, the standard produced significant parasitemia
suppression in all tests. In general, the extract of stem bark of S. guineense showed considerable
in vivo antimalarial properties with outstanding prophylactic activity. The phytochemical
screening of the extract showed the presence of alkaloids, anthraquinones, terpenoids, saponins,
tannins, phenols and flavonoids. The findings suggest that S. guineense contain active
phytochemicals that could potentially be a lead compound in the search for new antimalarials.
Key words: Syzygium guineense, Plasmodium berghei, Antimalarial activity
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Keywords
Syzygium guineense; Plasmodium berghei; Antimalarial activity