ANTIPLASMODIAL ACTIVITIES OF COMBINED EXTRACTS OF ZANTHOXYLUM ZANTHOXYLOIDES, ANOGEISSUS LEIOCARPUS AND ANTHOCLEISTA VOGELII IN PLASMODIUM BERGGHEI INFECTED MICE

Abstract

 The search for new compounds for the treatment of malaria is growing mainly due to the acquired resistance of parasites to commonly used malaria drugs. An in vivo study to evaluate the antiplasmodial activity of combined leaf extracts of Zanthoxylum zanthoxylum, Anogeissus leiocarpus and Anthocleista vogelii which are medicinal plants commonly used in the treatment of malaria in Afuze, South-South Nigeria was conducted using Plasmodium berghei infected mice. The leaves of the plants were washed, air-dried and grinded into powder, and extracted sequentially, using methanol solvent. Using five mice each, three different concentrations of the combined leaf extracts 200 mg/ml, 400 mg/ml and 800 mg/ml were used to determine their anti-plasmodial activity in Plasmodium berghei infected 4 mice. Each mouse was inoculated with 1 x 10 infected erythrocytes and leaf extract administration was based on the average body weight (AV.BW) of the mouse. 0.1 mg/ml body weight of the combined leaf extract was administered to each infected mouse and monitored for four days. At the end of the fourth day, the three different concentrations of the combined leaf extracts produced 41.50%, 47.20% and 49.22% parasite suppression respectively. The mean parasitaemia were 11.30 ± 6.81, 10.20 ± 5.25 and 9.80 ± 9.22 respectively. The results indicated that, there was some level of parasite suppression, with 800 mg/ml having the highest level of parasite suppression and 200 mg/ml having the lowest level of parasite suppression. The study reveals the anti-plasmodial activity of the three plants and concludes that the higher the concentration of the combined leaf extract the higher the level of parasite suppression and the lower the parasitaemia.