In vivo Evaluation of the antiplasmodial activity of Sterculia setigera leaf extract on plasmodium berghei infected mice.

Abstract

The growing resistance of malaria parasite to currently available anti-malarial drugs lead to search for novel effective drugs. Sterculia setigera belongs to the family sterculiaceae. It is a deciduous tree often thrives well on hills, rocky, poor soils of north-guinea savannahs. It is commonly known as Karaya gum tree and with different names by different cultures in Nigeria. Traditionally, the boiled leaves have been used in the treatment of malaria in. The present study aims to establish a scientific justification on the traditional use of S. setigera in management of malaria. The Phytochemical evaluation of the extract revealed the presence of flavonoids, tannins, steroids and triterpenes while, cardiac glycosides and    Anthraquiones were absent. The toxicity study was carried out according to Lorke, and a single oral dose of 5000mg/kg was not found to be toxic after several observations. The rodent malaria parasite plasmodium berghei was used to inoculate healthy Swiss albino mice weighing 15-25g. the crude extract in doses of 150mg/kg, 300mg/kg and 1200mg/kg were administered to different group of mice. The parameters of body weight, packed cell volume and parasitemia were determined using Ranes’ and Peters test. All extracts in treatment groups decrease parasitemia level in infected mice. the crude extract prevents loss of weight and increase packed cell volume. This study suggests that the leaf extract of S. setigera possess Antiplasmodial activity against plasmodium berghei in dose dependent manner, which justify its use traditional in treating malaria.