Antimalarial test data

Background <p>Malaria, despite progresses, is still causing huge number of malaria cases and deaths. Successful control of this disease demands the availability of drugs with high efficacy and minimal toxicity. In addition to modern medicines, traditional medicinal plants have long been used for managing malaria. However, many of these medicinal plants are not scientifically validated.</p> Objective <p>This study was conducted to assess the <i>invivo</i> antimalarial activity of <i>Zehneria scabra, </i>against <i>Plasmodium berghei</i> in swiss albino mice.</p> Materials and methods <p>Maceration technique has been used to extract the plant, and four doses of the extract ranging from 25-150 mg/kg were used. Tween 80 was used as negative control, and chloroquine was used a standard drug. The level of parasitemia and malaria-related variations including, packed cell volume, survival time, temperature and body weight were measured, and these records were used to weigh the extract-treated groups against both controls.</p> Results <p>The extract was found to have a significant parasite suppression in both four-day suppressive and Rane's models (p&lt;0.001), as well as in prophylactic model at 100 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg (P&lt;0.001). In line with this parasitemia reduction, the doses 100 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg in the four-day suppressive test, and 150 mg/kg in Rane's test had significant (p&lt;0.05) effect in prolonging survival time. While reduction in packed cell volume was prevented in all models at doses of 100 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg (p&lt;0.05), temperature decline was lessened at 100 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg in four-day suppressive model, and at 150 mg/kg in Rane's model (p&lt;0.05).</p> Conclusion <p>The antimalarial activity found in this study confirm the traditional use and <i>invitro</i> antimalarial effect of the plant, and if studied further, it may produce active constituent(s) that can be used as a lead compound (s) against malaria.</p>