In vivo anti-malarial activity of hydroalcoholic extracts from Asparagus africanus Lam. in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei

Abstract

Abstract Background: Malaria is a major public health problem
in the world in general and developing countries in particular, causing an estimated 1-2 million deaths per year, an annual
incidence of 300-500 million clinical cases and more than 2 billion people are at risk of infection from it. But it is also
becoming more difficult to treat malaria due to the increasing drug resistance. Therefore, the need for alternative drugs
is acute.
Objective: This study aims at investigating the in vivo antiplasmodial activity of extracts of the roots and area parts from
traditionally used medicinal plant, named Asparagus africanus (Liliaceae).
Methods: A rodent malaria parasite, Plasmodium berghei, which was maintained at the Ethiopian Health and
Nutrition Research Institute (EHNRI) laboratory, was inoculated into Swiss albino mice. The mice were infected with
1x107 parasites intraperitoneally. The extracts were administered by an intra gastric tube daily for four days starting from
the day of parasite inoculation. The control groups received the same amount of solvent (vehicle) used to suspend each
dose of the herbal drug. Chloroquine was used as a standard drug, and was administered through the same route. Results:
Extracts from the roots and aerial parts of A.africanus were observed to inhibit Plasomodium berghei parasitaemia in
the Swiss albino mice by 46.1% and 40.7% respectively.
Conclusion: The study could partly confirm the claim in Ethiopian traditional medicine that the plant has therapeutic
values in human malaria. There is, thus, the need to initiate further in-depth investigation by using different experimental
models. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2006;20(2):112-118