Antimalarial Efficacy and Safety of (L.) Link Root Extract in -Infected BALB/c Mice.

Background: Emergence of resistance to antimalarial drugs presents a major drawback in efforts to control malaria. To address this problem, there is an urgent and continuous need for the development of new and effective antimalarial agents. (L.) link extract has exhibited antiplasmodial activity in many pharmacological studies. To our knowledge, data on its antimalarial efficacy is still very limited. A recent study demonstrated that polar extracts from the plant roots inhibit proliferation in a mouse model. This study further describes the efficacy and safety of a methanolic root extract of the plant as an antimalarial agent by demonstrating its effect on hematological, biochemical, and histological parameters of -infected BALB/c mice.

Methods: Rane's test, a curative approach, was used to evaluate the antimalarial efficacy of methanolic root extract in -infected BALB/c mice. The effect of the extract on both hematological and biochemical parameters was evaluated using automated analyzers. Kidney, liver, lung, spleen, and brain tissues were harvested from euthanized mice and examined for changes in organ architecture.

Results: This study demonstrates that methanolic root extract of significantly inhibited parasitemia in BALB/c mice ( < 0.01). Infected mice that were treated with the extract depicted a significantly low level of total leucocytes ( < 0.01), red blood cell distribution width ( < 0.01), and a significantly high hemoglobin concentration ( < 0.001) compared to the infected animals that were administered with the vehicle only. The infected animals that were treated with the extract exhibited a significantly low level of urea, creatinine, bilirubin, and alkaline phosphatase ( < 0.05), compared to the infected animals that were given the vehicle only. The level of sodium, potassium and chloride ions, lymphocytes, granulocytes, hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, total protein, albumin, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total platelets, mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width of the infected animals treated with the extract was not significantly different from those of the infected animals that were given the vehicle only ( > 0.05). The extract alleviated organ pathological changes in the infected mice. The extract did not induce any remarkable adverse effect on the growth, hematological, and biochemical parameters of uninfected animals ( > 0.05). In addition, administration of the extract did not alter the gross appearance and histological architecture of the organs, implying that the extract was well tolerated in mice.

Conclusions: methanolic root extract exhibited good antimalarial activity against and may be safe in mice.