Purpose: To evaluate the in-vivo antimalarial activity of the methanol extract of the leaves of
Glyphaea brevis
in
Plasmodium berghei infected mice.
Methods: The phytochemical profile of ethylacetate, n-butanol, and residual aqueous fractions of the
methanol extract of
G. brevis were determined using standard procedures. Mice, weighing between 15 -
30 g, were used for this study.
Plasmodium berghei infected blood (0.2 ml) was used to infect each of
55 mice (5 in 11 groups) intraperitoneally. Animals in the infected groups were treated orally with
varying doses (200, 300 and 400 mg/kg body weight) of the ethylacetate, n-butanol and residual
aqueous fractions daily, using artemisinin (5 mg/kg body weight per day) as standard drug, over a
period of four days. The non-infected (normal control, n = 5) received distilled water (0.2 ml) while the
infected control group (n = 5) was administered 0.2 ml normal saline. The suppressive antiplasmodial
properties of the fractions as well as the serum concentrations of aspartate aminotransferase (AST),
alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were determined.
Results: Alkaloids, carbohydrates, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, steroids and
triterpenes were present in the extract fractions. The suppressive antiplasmodial activity of n-butanol,
residual aqueous portion and ethylacetate fractions was 76.64, 73.25 and 72.99 %, respectively, while
that of artemisinin was 86.13 %. The serum concentrations of AST, ALT, and ALP in the infected control
group were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those of the treated malaria-infected groups treated with
the three fractions.
Conclusion: Glyphaea brevis possesses significant antiplasmodial properties and could be a source of
lead molecules for the development of new antimalarial agents.
