In vivo antimalarial activity of stem bark extracts of Plumeria alba against Plasmodium berghei in imprinting control region mice

Abstract

In vivo antimalarial activity of stem bark extracts of Plumeria alba against Plasmodium berghei in imprinting control region mice Johnson Nyarko Boampong,1 Elvis Ofori Ameyaw,1 Samuel Kyei,2 Benjamin Aboagye,1 Kwame Asare,1 Richmond Afoakwah,1 Alex Boye,3 Jean Hubert Donfack41Department of Biomedical and Forensic Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, 2Department of Optometry, School of Physical Sciences, 3Department of Laboratory Technology, School of Physical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana; 4Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, CameroonBackground: The need for new antimalarial agents with a transcriptional mode of action but fewer side effects compared with artemisinin-based combination therapy for malaria has been the preoccupation of scientists in areas where malaria is a menace. Stem bark extracts of Plumeria alba, used traditionally for the treatment of malaria in Ghana, were investigated to evaluate their prophylactic and curative antimalarial properties.Methods: The antimalarial properties of P. abla were probed using aqueous (30–300 mg/kg) and dichloromethane/methanol (30–300 mg/kg) extracts of the plant in imprinting control region mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. For the curative test, the extracts were administered to the infected mice 4 days post-infection. In the prophylactic test, the animals were pre-treated with the extracts for 3 days before challenging them with P. berghei infected erythrocytes.Results: The aqueous extract exerted significant (P < 0.05–0.001) effects on P. berghei infection, similar to artemether and lumefantrine curatively and sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine prophylactically. However, the dichloromethane/methanol extract reduced the parasitemia curatively (P < 0.05–0.01) but not prophylactically.Conclusion: This study provides evidence to support the antimalarial properties of stem bark extract of P. alba in mice.Keywords: malaria, parasitemia, artemether, lumefantrine, sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine, Ghana