Abstract
Malaria is majorly caused by Plasmodium falciparum resulting in thousands of deaths every year. In Africa, it is a key contributor to the disease burden notable in the disability adjusted life years (DALYs). About 243 million individuals are at a risk of contracting the disease and a higher rate of deaths are observed in children under the age of five. Conventional drugs are available at a subsidized rate but the rising problem is the resistance of the plasmodium parasite to these drugs. Hence, there is an urgent need for the development of new and alternative therapeutics for treatment of malaria. In some regions in Kenya, parts of locally available plants are harvested and used for treating malaria. It is estimated that locally, 30% of the population relies on traditional medicine for treating various ailments due to the lack of infrastructure and accessible medical facilities especially in the rural areas. Warbugia ugandensis , Maytenus senegalensis and Corymbia citriodora are amongst the plants used in herbal medicine for the treatment of malaria. However, their combinatorial antimalarial efficacy and safety is yet to be determined hence the aim of this study. The plants were harvested from their natural habitats and transported to the Centre of Traditional Medicine and Drug Research (CTMDR) at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Nairobi. Antimalarial properties of single and combined extracts were analyzed against Plasmodium berghei in vivo . Cytotoxic properties of the plants were carried out against the vero cell-lines in vitro by the MTT assay. Acute oral toxicity was conducted according to the OECD protocol. Effective concentration (ED 50 ), cytotoxicity concentration (CC 50 ) and median lethal dose (LD50) were derived. The result indicated that the combination of M. senegalensis : W. ugandensis (1:1) had the most antimalarial activity at ED 50 of 1.05mg/kg whereas among the single plants W. ugandensis had the highest antimalarial activity (ED 50 of 3.3mg/kg). The combinations of C. citriodora : M. senegalensis : W. ugandensis (1:1:1), C. citriodora : M. senegalensis : W. ugandensis (1:0.5:1) and C. citriodora : M. senegalensis : W. ugandensis (0.5:1:0.5) showed cytotoxicity concentration (CC 50 ) of 101.47±3.17 µg/ml, 213.55±3.47 µg/ml and 575.80±31.40 µg/ml respectively. A ll the plants combinations showed no cytotoxic effects. The synergistic antimalarial properties of combined C. citriodora : M. senegalensis , C. citriodora : W. ugandensis and M. senegalensis : W. ugandensis were confirmed as the extracts showed SFIC indexes of 0.67, 0.83 and 0.28 respectively. All the plant extracts demonstrated LD 50 above 2000 mg/kg with no adverse effects hence recognized as safe. This study confirms the safety and antimalarial activities of these plants and justify their use in herbal medicine practices. The results of this study sets the precedence for the development of an antimalarial herbal formulation that is less toxic and more affordable. Keywords : Anti-Malarial Activity, Toxicological Effect, Traditional Medicine DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/12-22-04 Publication date: November 30 th 2021
Highlights
Malaria is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease caused by Plasmodium species (Miller et al, 2013; Ghani, 2018)
Kinangop and Corymbia citriodora leaves from Tharaka Nithi, 5kg each were collected in gunny bags from their natural habitat in Kenya
This one-part stock solution was diluted to 99 parts of Earl’s Minimum Essential Medium (MEM), containing 2% Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS, maintenance medium), which was 10μl of the extract in 990 μl of media giving a start concentration of 1000 μg/ ml in 1% Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO) used in the MTT ((3- [4, 5- dimethylthiazol -2- yl) -2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay
Summary
Malaria is a mosquito-borne parasitic disease caused by Plasmodium species (Miller et al, 2013; Ghani, 2018). Despite all the established efforts to eradicate malaria, the disease still causes significant morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries. Inaccessibility and unaffordability of conventional healthcare for treatment of malaria has motivated communities to use herbal medicine for the management of malaria. Mortality and morbidity rates caused by malaria have reduced because of local herbal therapeutics in parts of developing countries where conventional antimalarial drugs are not readily accessible, affordable and available (Kigondu et al, 2011). Despite their continued use, herbal treatments have a number of.
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