Abstract:
In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria is responsible for approximately a million infant deaths a year,
predominantly among the poor who have little or no access to modern medicine. This group
represents some 75% of the world's population that relies on herbal remedies. In this project,
the antimalarial activities and safety properties of Clausena anisata and Clutia robusta
hexane, chloroform and methanol extracts on Plasmodium berghei ANKA, in vivo in swiss
mouse model of malaria was investigated. The results showed that at a single dose of 5000
mg/kg body weight, Clutia robusta extracts had no toxic effects on the mice. Clausena anisata
chloroform extract doses above 1582 mg/kg were lethal to the mice with animals treated with
5000 and 2811 mg/kg of the extract producing 60% and 40% mortality respectively. LD50 of
mice treated with chloroform extract was calculated as 3514 mg/kg. Chloroform extract at
500mg/kg/day exhibited high suppressive activities at 72.13%. When established infections
were treated with chloroform extracts of Clausena anisata, the median survival time of the mice
observed at 500 mg/kg/day was longer compared to the untreated control at 9 and 7days
respectively. C. anisata extracts tested demonstrated a dose dependent chemosuppression of
78.56% at 500 mg/kg/day. PCR was used to detect the presence of P. berghei in the dry blood
spots from the experimental mice after the drug pressure assay. C.anisata chloroform extract
showed significant antimalarial activity and enhanced median survival time of mice. This shows
that the plant has antimalarial properties that can be explored for the management of malaria.
