PRECLINICAL ANTIMALARIAL EVALUATION OF ENANTIA CHLORANTA STEMBARK HYDROETHANOLIC EXTRACT

ABSTRACT

Plant-derived compounds have played vital roles in the management of malaria infections. Thus, Enantia chlorantha (Anonaceae) holds promise in the context of malaria treatment. This study thus set out to validate the use of E. chlorantha in the management of malaria using Plasmodium berghei infected mice. A total of 25 male Swiss albino mice were divided into five (5) groups: Positive Control (PC), Negative Control (NC), and experimental groups EC_A, EC_B and EC_3. Animals were administered normal saline, 25 mg/kg b.wt. chloroquine, normal saline and 50, 100 and 250 mg/kg b.wt. of E. chlorantha respectively. Prior to treatment, mice were infected with 2 x 104 P. berghei. Treatment commenced three hours after infection, and thereafter, for the following 3 days. On days 5 and 9, smears were made from the lateral tail veins of mice, fixed and stained to compute parasitemia. The extract caused a dosedependent decrease in parasitemia as compared with negative control group. Chloroquine at 25 mg/kg b.wt. decreased parasitemia more significantly as compared to E. chlorantha. Overall, the findings from this study indicate that hydroethanolic extract of E. chlorantha stembark possesses antimalarial activity.