Objective: To evaluate the in vivo antiplasmodial activities of the extract and fractions (n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate, butanol, aqueous) of the whole plant in Plasmodium berghei berghei infected mice.
Methods: Oral administrations of the extract (200, 400, and 600 mg/kg) of Eleucine indica and fractions (400 mg/kg) were screened in the 4-day, repository and curative tests. Chloroquine (5 mg/kg), pyrimethamine (1.2 mg/kg) and artesunate (5 mg/kg) were used as controls.
Results: The extract showed significant (P< 0.05-0.001) dose-dependent, antiplasmodial activity in the 4-day, repository and curative tests and increased the survival times of the infected mice. All the fractions exhibited significant antiplasmodial activity with the highest being ethylacetate fraction.
Conclusions: Eleucine indica extract and fractions possess antimalarial activity which confirms the ethnobotanical use of this plant as a malarial remedy and opens a new highway to further investigate its potentials in the on-going fight against malaria.
Copyright © 2012 Hainan Medical College. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.