IN VITRO TEST OF FIVE ETHIOPIAN MEDICINAL PLANTS FOR ANTIMALARIAL ACTIVITY AGAINST PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM

Abstract

The in vitro antimalarial activity of crude extracts from aerial parts of Ajuga remota Benth .• Artemisia afra Jacq. and Artemisia rehan Chiov.,
seeds of Lepidium sativum (L.) and roots of Securidaca longipedunculata Fresen. were studied by utilizing the inhibition of uptake of [3H]hypoxanthine into P. Ja/ciparum line FCA-2/Ethiopia. Of the -five extracts tested, extracts from seeds of L. sativum and S. longipedunculata showed no antimalarial activity at the highest concentration [50 p;g(ml)"l] used in the present study. However, ethanol
extracts from aerial parts of A. ajra, A. rehan and A. remota possessed
antimalarial activity with rcso values of the order of 7-23 p;g(ml)·l. A. iifra
showed the highest activity [lCso=7 p;g(ml)'l] as compared to that of A. rehan [ICso=14 p;g(ml)·l] and A. remota [ICso=23 p;g(ml)·l]. Results of this study showed that the extracts from three of the plants did have antimalarial activity, which suggests further investigations of cytotoxicity, chemical isolation and in vivo studies of those plants with potential antimalarials.