In Vivo Antimalarial Activity Evaluation of 80% Methanol Crude Extract and Solvent Fractions of Cucumis Prophetarum Roots (Cucurbitaceae) in Plasmodium Berghei Infected Mice
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Date
2021-02
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Malaria is one of the most important protozoan diseases in the world that cause illness for human.
Resistance to currently available antimalarial drugs remains a major challenge and continued to
cause an obstacle in the management of malaria. This calls for development and discovery of
new antimalarial agents from alternative sources such as medicinal plants. As seen from history,
most currently used antimalarial drugs were obtained from traditional medicinal plants. Cucumis
prophetarum is one of the traditional medicinal plants that have been used traditionally in the
treatment of malaria in different parts of Ethiopia. However, it lacks pharmacological
investigations to confirm its antimalarial activity. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate in
vivo antimalarial activity of 80ME and solvent fractions of root of C. prophetarum in P. berghei
infected mice using 4-day suppressive and prophylactic test. Before evaluation of the
antimalarial activity, oral acute toxicity study was carried out. To evaluate the antimalarial
activity, three doses of the 80ME and solvent fractions (50mg/kg, 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg)
were given to parasite infected mice orally. Parameters including parasitemia level, survival time,
body weight, body temperature and packed cell volume were evaluated. In 4-day suppressive test,
the chemosuppressive effects exerted by the crude extract, chloroform fraction, butanol fraction
and aqueous fraction were in a range of 30.84-64.33%, 27.14-48.47%, 24.34-35.39% and 15.9125.82%,
respectively. In prophylactic test, the parasite suppression effect exerted by the 80ME
was in a range of 24.58-39.70%. The highest suppression of parasitemia was displayed by the
maximum dose (200mg/kg) of 80ME in 4-day suppression test. Furthermore, the 80ME and
solvent fractions prevented loss of body weight, body temperature reduction and packed cell
volume reduction when compared to the respective negative controls. In addition, they prolonged
the survival time of infected mice. In conclusion, the results of this study collectively indicate
that the root of C. prophetarum has in vivo antimalarial activity which supports the traditional
claim.
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Keywords
Antimalarial drug, Cucumis prophetarum, Plasmodium berghei, Parasitemia.