Evaluation of Acute Toxicity and In vitro Antitrypanosomal Activity of the Methanolic Leaves Extract of Ficus exasperata

Abstract

Trypanosomosis is one of the tropical diseases in which new and better drugs are needed. Effective treatment for African trypanosomosis is beset with problems of drug resistance and toxicity. In this study acute toxicity and in vitro antitrypanosomal activity of the methanolic leaves extract of Ficus exasperata were investigated. The acute toxicity study was conducted in two phases. Doses of 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg were administered to 3 groups of 3 mice each at the initial phase, while doses of 600, 1,000, 1,600 and 2,900 were administered to 4 groups of 1 mouse each at the final phase. The median lethal dose (LD ) was determined to be 775 mg/kg intraperitoneally in mice. The 50 antitrypanosomal activity of the extract was evaluated in vitro using a micro titre plate. Blood obtained from infected rat with T. brucei brucei (8.4 x 106) was incubated at room temperature (27 0C) for 4 hours with methanolic leaves extract at 40 and 80 mg/ml and 3.5 mg/ml of diminazene aceturate concentrations respectively. The parasites were inactivated and became uninfective to mice at both the extract and the standard drug concentrations used, while the parasites remained active and infective to mice in the negative control. The current study revealed that the methanolic leaves extract of of Ficus exasperata could possess trypanocidal principle that may require further scientific ellucidations.