Department of Pharmacognosy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Adepiti, A.O., Department of Pharmacognosy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; Elujoba, A.A., Department of Pharmacognosy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; Bolaji, O.O., Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
The use of decoctions of different plant materials is common practice in antimalarial ethnomedicine in Africa. Scientific evaluation of such herbal combinations to verify the claims is important. The study has evaluated the antimalarial efficacy of MAMA decoction (MD), a multicomponent herbal preparation and its individual plant components, namely leaves of Morinda lucida Benth [Rubiaceae] (ML), Azadirachta indica A. Juss [Meliaceae] (AI), Alstonia boonei De Wild [Apocynaceae] (AB) and Mangifera indica L [Anacardiaceae] (MI) in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice. Each decoction was prepared by boiling the powdered leaf in water, concentrated in vacuo and freeze-dried. The acute toxicity of MD (LD50 = 3.8 g/kg) was determined using Lorke's method. The antimalarial activities of MD and its plant components were evaluated by oral administration of the freeze-dried extracts (15-240 mg/kg) using the early malaria infection test model. The established malaria infection test was used to evaluate MD (60-240 mg/kg) while amodiaquine [10 mg/kg] (AQ) and distilled water were employed as the positive and negative controls, respectively. From the early malaria infection test, the effective doses at 50 % (ED50) and 90 % (ED90) for MD, AB, AI, ML, MI and AQ were 43, 79, 140, 134, 208 and 3.9 mg/kg and 202, 276, 291, 408, 480 and 9.2 mg/kg, respectively. For the established infection test, MD (240 mg/kg) and AQ gave parasite clearance of 55 and 95 % on day 5 of treatment. MD possesses antimalarial activity and is relatively safe. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Alstonia boonei extract; amodiaquine; antimalarial agent; Azadirachta indica extract; herbaceous agent; Mangifera indica extract; Morinda lucida extract; plant extract; unclassified drug; acute toxicity; Alstonia; alstonia boonei; animal experiment; antimalarial activity; article; Azadirachta indica; controlled study; female; freeze drying; in vivo study; LD 50; malaria; male; mango; Morinda lucida; mouse; nonhuman; parasite clearance; parasitemia; plant leaf; Plasmodium berghei; Plasmodium berghei infection; priority journal; treatment duration; Alstonia boonei; Anacardiaceae; Apocynaceae; Azadirachta indica; Mangifera indica; Meliaceae; Morinda lucida; Mus; Plasmodium berghei; Rubiaceae; Africa; Alstonia; Animals; Antimalarials; Azadirachta; Female; Malaria; Male; Mangifera; Medicine, Traditional; Mice; Morinda; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts; Plant Leaves; Plasmodium berghei; Random Allocation