Abstract
Development of resistance by malaria parasites to conventional antimalarial drugs has rejuvenated the exploration of herbal medicine as alternatives. Also, the increasing rate of the use of herbal antimalarial remedies in combination with conventional antimalarial drugs (both synthetic and semi-synthetic) has inspired researchers to validate their herb-drug interaction effects. This review evaluated the interaction outcomes between herbal antimalarial drugs in combination with conventional antimalarial drugs. With the aid of electronic databases, Pubmed and Google scholar, articles related to this subject were sourced from English peer reviewed scientific journals published from 2003 to 2020. Search terms used include “antimalarial-herbal drugs interaction”, “antimalarial medicinal plant interactions with conventional antimalarial drugs”, “drug-herbal interactions, “antimalarial drugs and medicinal plants”. Synergistic, antagonistic and none effects were reported among 30 studies reviewed. Among 18 in vivo studies on P. berghei and P. yoelii nigerense infected mice model, 14 showed synergism, 3 showed antagonism and 1 involving three plants showed both effects. Among 9 in-vivo studies involving normal animal (non-infected), 2 showed antagonism, 2 showed synergism and 5 showed none-effects. Two (2) studies on human volunteers and one (1) in vitro quantitative study showed that Garcinia kola reduced plasma concentrations of quinine and halofantrine. Generally, majority of herbal antimalarial drugs showed synergistic effects with CAMDs. Vernonia amygdalina was the most studied plant compared to others. Consequently, herbal remedies that produced synergistic effects with conventional antimalarial drugs may be prospects for standardization and development of antimalarial-medicinal plant combination therapy that could curtail malaria resistance to conventional antimalarial therapies.
Highlights
The malaria encumbrances Malaria is a parasitic disease caused four major species of Plasmodium including Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale
Inclusion criteria include in-vivo studies involving animal induced with malaria and treated with plant extracts alongside conventional antimalarial drugs, in-vivo studies involving animal or human volunteers without malaria but were administered plant extracts and conventional antimalarial drugs, and in-vitro quantitative studies on the concentration of conventional antimalarial drugs following their combination with medicinal antimalarial plants
Conclusion and suggestions for further studies From the appraised studies, antimalarial efficacies of some conventional antimalarial drugs decreased the effectiveness of some extracts, while some extracts decreased the effectiveness of some conventional antimalarial drugs
Summary
The malaria encumbrances Malaria is a parasitic disease caused four major species of Plasmodium including Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale. Malaria remains the most prevalent disease presenting more than 219 million symptomatic cases and 435,000 projected deaths, as revealed by recent statistics [3, 4]. Following bites from female anopheles mosquitoes, Plasmodium parasites journey through the bloodstream, get matured and reproduce in the liver, which eventually manifest malaria typical symptoms such as headache, fever, weakness, pain, nausea, abdominal distress, and excessive perspiration [2]. Prolonged and untreated cases of malaria could lead to complications such as severe anemia, brain tissue damage, kidney failure, pulmonary edema and yellow discoloration of the skin [6]
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