Evaluation of the in vivo antimalarial potentials of the leaf and fruit of Uvaria chamae P. Beauv (Annonaceae)

Ethnomedicinally, the leaves and fruits of Uvaria chamae P. Beauv (Annonaceae) are used in traditional preparations for febrile illness. Therefore, their antimalarial activities were evaluated with a view to justifying this ethnomedical use. The root has been scientifically proven to have antimalarial activity [1].

Methanolic extracts of the dried leaves and fresh fruits administered at 100 – 800 mg/kg on Plasmodium berghei-infected mice were evaluated using the four-day (chemosuppressive) and curative (Rane's) antimalarial test models; distilled water and amodiaquine (10 mg/kg) were negative and positive controls, respectively.

At 800 mg/kg, leaf and fruit extracts gave chemosuppression of 42 and 28% (four-day test) and parasite clearance of 36.3 and 49.5% on day 5 (curative test), respectively while the positive control-treated groups were 72.8% and 98%. The mean survival times were comparable (p > 0.05) to the amodiaquine-treated group in both leaf- (P = 0.83) and fruit- (P = 0.30) treated mice in the chemosuppressive test but significantly lower for the leaf- (P = 0.006) and fruit- treated (P = 0.002) groups than that of the amodiaquine- treated group (24 days) in the curative test. No toxic effects were observed at the doses used.

The leaf and fruit extracts showed better chemosuppressive and curative antimalarial activity, respectively thus justifying their folkloric uses.

References:

[1] Okokon, J.E., Ita, B.N. and Udokpoh, A.E. (2006). The in vivo antimalarial activities of Uvaria chamae and Hippocratea Africana Annals of Tropical Medicine & Parasitology 100(7) 585 – 590.