Abstract
BackgroundMalaria is a parasitic disease that constitutes a major global health concern and the increasing resistance of Plasmodium falciparum strains to the commonly used antimalarial drugs has resulted in an increase in treatment failures (Zofou et al.,Malar Res Treat: 561342, 2011). Natural products isolated from plants used in traditional medicine have shown promising antimalarial actions in vitro, and these plants can serve as potential sources for new antimalarial drugs (Wright et al.,Phytother Res 8:149–152, 1994); hence, research into the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of malaria would provide viable options in the effective control of the disease by screening plant extracts for antimalarial activities and also isolating bioactive components from these extracts using TLC and column chromatographic techniques.This research was focused on investigating the antimalarial potentials of the stem bark of Feretia canthioides Hiern used in the traditional treatment of malaria in Nigeria.ResultsIn vitro antimalarial tests carried out on the plant extracts and isolated compound in this research revealed that the methanol extract displayed promising antimalarial activities with an inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 7.76 μg/ml, the n-hexane extract showed low activity with an IC50 value of 63.10 μg/ml, while the ethyl acetate and dichloromethane extracts were found to be inactive with IC50 values above 100 μg/ml. The isolated compound (betulinic acid) showed good antimalarial activity with an IC50 value of 12.60 μg/ml when compared with chloroquine phosphate which served as the positive control.Detailed phytochemical screening of the plant extracts obtained after extraction of the plant material indicated that the methanolic extract of the stem bark of Feretia canthioides Hiern contained major plant secondary metabolites which include tannins, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, steroids, alkaloids, saponins and glycosides. Chromatographic techniques carried out on the methanolic extract of this plant led to the isolation of a pentacyclic triterpenoid compound identified to be betulinic acid which is been reported for the first time from the methanolic extract of the stem bark of this plant.ConclusionThe inhibitory concentration values (IC50) of the methanolic extract and isolated compound in this research prove that this plant can serve as an effective agent for the treatment of malaria. This research concluded that the stem bark of Feretia canthioides Hiern can be further investigated as a prospective antimalarial agent.
Highlights
Malaria is a parasitic disease that constitutes a major global health concern and the increasing resistance of Plasmodium falciparum strains to the commonly used antimalarial drugs has resulted in an increase in treatment failures (Zofou et al.,Malar Res Treat: 561342, 2011)
In vitro antimalarial activity of plant extracts represented as inhibitory concentration (IC50) values Table 1 below shows the inhibitory concentration values of the plant extracts which were determined by linear interpolation from schizont growth inhibition graphs; a plot of number of schizonts generated from each plate well against logarithm of concentrations using Microsoft Excel (Mustofa et al 2007)
The inhibitory concentration (IC50) values obtained from the in vitro antimalarial screening of the crude plant extracts in this study were classified according to their antimalarial potentials as described by Niharika et al (2015)
Summary
Malaria is a parasitic disease that constitutes a major global health concern and the increasing resistance of Plasmodium falciparum strains to the commonly used antimalarial drugs has resulted in an increase in treatment failures (Zofou et al.,Malar Res Treat: 561342, 2011). The rising spread of parasite resistance to antimalarial drugs in recent times has emerged as one of the greatest threats facing the control of the disease today with approximately 300 million cases and about one million deaths reported worldwide annually (Devi et al 2014). These drug-resistant strains of malaria parasites have increased antimalarial drug research over a long period of time with more attention focused on natural products (Etkin 2003). Isolated compounds from plants used traditionally in medicine have the potential to serve as rich sources for the development of novel antimalarial drugs (Wright et al 1994)
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