Evaluation of anti-malarial activity and GC–MS finger printing of cannabis: An in-vivo and in silico approach

Abstract

The development of an effective and affordable malaria treatment drug is required to reduce the number of deaths caused by this disease around the world. The in-vivo anti-malarial activities of Cannabis were investigated, as well as the in-silico antimalarial prediction of cannabis GC–MS compounds. Thirty albino mice were divided into six groups of five animals each at random: A, B, C, D, E and F. The animals in all the groups except the normal control group were infected with Plasmodium berghei NK-65 before the commencement of treatment. Each group was treated differently: A is a positive control; B, mice were administered 0.2 ml 2% DMSO with no infection; C, 10 mg/kg BW of chloroquine was administered; Animals in D, E, and F were given 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg BW of ethanolic cannabis leaf extract, respectively. Blood was drawn from the mice's tail, fixed on a slide, and examined under a microscope to determine the parasitaemia level of the infected mice at various intervals during treatment. The animals were sacrificed and blood collected for hematological studies. There was a significant decrease in percentage parasitemia and an increase in percentage inhibition in the treated group compared to infected group. The red blood cell (RBC), platelet, haematocrit (HCT) and percentage weight gain showed a significant increase (P ≤ 0.05) in the treatment groups compared to the infected mice. Tetrahydrocannabivarin showed high binding energy to α/β tubulin protein of Plasmodium falciparum compared to vinblastine. The decrease in parasitaemia percentage could be attributed to tetrahydrocannabivarin's inhibitory action on microtubules, which eventually leads to the cessation of parasite proliferation in RBC.