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ABSTRACT
Malaria is a life-threatening disease in many tropical and sub-tropical countries. Its incidence has been on the increase over the years. The emergence of parasite resistance to the currently available anti-malarial drugs in recent time has led to the decline in their efficacies. Hence, a need to identify more safe, affordable, and effective alternatives from locally used medicinal plants is necessary. One of such plants is Picralima nitida (Apocynaceae family), a West African plant with varied applications in African folk medicine in the treatment of malaria infection. The aim of this study was to access the in vivo anti-plasmodial potential of dichloromethane-methanol extracts of P. nitida fruit rind and leaves. The study involved the preliminary extraction of the bioactive principles in the P. nitida fruit rind and leaves using standard protocol. The phytochemical constituents (qualitative and quantitative) and in vitro antioxidant property of the plant extracts were determined. The acute toxicity and in vivo anti-plasmodial potential of the extracts in Plasmodium berghei (ANKA) chloroquine sensitive strain infected mice were evaluated based on the 4- days Peter's suppressive assay. Liver function, hematological, and oxidative stress indices were assessed using standard procedures. Histopathological changes in the liver and spleen tissues following P. berghei infection after treatment with the plant extracts were also examined. Preliminary results from the phytochemical study revealed the presence of saponins, flavonoids, tannins, cardiac glycosides, steroids, terpenoids, alkaloids, reducing sugars and phenols in both extracts. However, more phytochemicals were noticed in the plant leaf extract than the fruit rind extract. Antioxidant profile showed that the leaf extract had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher antioxidant potential than the fruit rind counterpart. The leaf extract also showed a significantly (p < 0.05) higher capacity to scavenge DPPH radicals in a dose-dependent manner (IC50 = 0.039 µg / mL) when compared to the fruit rind extract (IC50 = 0.051 µg / mL). Also, the nitric oxide scavenging capacity of the fruit rind extract (IC50 = 1.19mg/ mL) was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than the leaf extract (IC50 = 0.42 mg/ mL). In addition, the leaf extract exhibited a significantly higher FRAP (766.00 ± 6.02 µmoles Fe (II) / g extract) level than the fruit rind extract (364.00 ± xvii 2.10 µmoles Fe (II) / g extract). The median lethal dose (LD50) was estimated to be > 2,000 mg/ kg body weight for both extracts. The in vivo anti-plasmodial potential of the leaf extract (87.29%) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of the fruit rind extract (77.36%). The various biochemical tests showed that the fruit rind and leaf extract were able to ameliorate changes in some of the liver function tests, hematological parameters, oxidative stress markers and histopathological changes in the liver and spleen caused by the malaria infection. Hence, this study was able to give enough scientific proofs to validate the local claims on the use of P. nitida fruit rind and leaves extracts in the management of malaria infection.
