Anti-Plasmodium berghei activity of Ethanol root bark extract of Hippocratea africana
1 Department of Pediatrics, Federal Medical Centre Owerri Imo State, Nigeria
2 Department of Human Anatomy, Chukwuemeka Odumekwu Ojukwu University Uli, Anambara State, Nigeria
3 Department of Human Physiology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Imo State University, Owerri Nigeria.
4 Department of Medical Laboratory Science, Abia State University Uturu, Abia State Nigeria.
Research Article
Open Access Research Journal of Biology and Pharmacy, 2023, 07(02), 033–037.
Article DOI: 10.53022/oarjbp.2023.7.2.0014
Publication history:
Received on 03 January 2023; revised on 22 March 2023; accepted on 25 March 2023
Abstract:
Drug resistance is the major challenge that has undermined the viability of the synthetic anti-malaria drugs. The active ingredients inherent in plants are distributed to the various parts which can only be explored based on available information on them. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the anti-plasmodium berghei activity of ethanol root bark extract of Hippocratea Africana. Freshly harvested root bark of H. Africana was dried at room temperature and afterwards ground into fine powder. 500 g of the powdered plant sample was extracted. Twenty five adult mice were divided into five (5) mice each. Group I was the normal control (NC), Groups II-V were infected with Plasmodium berghei. However, while group II was not treated with extract, Groups III and IV were treated with 200 and 400 mg/kg of ERBEHA respectively and Group V was administered 250 mg/kg of chloroquine. Animals were sacrificed at the termination of administration of extract and blood sample collected was analysed using standard procedures. P. berghei infection significantly (P<0.05) increased percentage parasitemia, reduced total protein and packed cell volume, oral administration significantly (P<0.05) reversed the observation. In conclusion, it can be deduced from the outcome of this work that the root bark of H. Africana wields the ability to eliminate Plasmodium berghei.
Keywords:
Hippocratea Africana; Plasmodium berghei; Chloroquine; Drug resistance; Root
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