In vitro antiplasmodial activity of aqueous extracts of Ochna schweinfurthiana leaf on Plasmodium falciparum.
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Date
2017
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Publisher
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Jos, Nigeria.
Abstract
The in vitro antiplasmodial activities of cold and hot aqueous extracts of Ochna schweinfurthiana leaf was evaluated
against Plasmodium falciparum at concentrations 10, 20, 40 and 80 μg/ml. Parasitaemia was observed after 24, 48
and 72 hours under a light microscope at X100 magnification. The antiplasmodial activity of the extracts were
compared with a standard Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT), artemether/lumefantrine. Phytochemical
analysis showed the presence of flavonoids (65.97 mg/100g), alkaloids (0.20 mg/100g), saponins (47.39 mg/100g)
and tannins (0.53 mg/100g). There was a significant reduction (P< 0.05) in parasitemia of groups treated with the
various doses of the extracts when compared to the control group. The reduction in parasitemia was however not as
pronounced as that observed for the standard drug-treated groups. The 10, 20, 40 1nd 80 μg/ml doses of the extracts
gave a percentage parasite inhibition of 79.77, 81.86, 83.38 and 86.42 (cold extract) and 76.26, 78.54, 82.72 and
85.06 (hot extract) respectively which are lower than 99.71, 99.81, 100.00 and 100.00 respectively observed for the
standard drug after 72 hours. However, in vitro assay of plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) activity did not
show any significant difference among the extract-treated groups and those treated with artemether/lumefantrine
standard. Findings from this study show that hot and cold aqueous extracts of Ochna schweinfurthiana leaf possess
high inhibitory activity against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro especially after 72 hours and justifies it folkloric use
as an antimalarial.
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Keywords
Antiplasmodial, Ochna schweinfurthiana, Extracts, Parasitemia, ACT