ABSTRACT
Malaria is one of the oldest and most deadly diseases. In 2020, children below aged 5 years accounted for about 80% of malaria deaths and nearly 29% of global malaria mortality occurred in Nigeria. The present situation warrants accelerated action to combat the surge in malaria morbidity. This study therefore evaluated the acute toxicity, in vivo antimalarial potential and histological examination of Plasmodium berghei infected mice treated with Allanblackia floribunda extracts. Acute toxicity of the extracts was investigated using the Lorke’s method. Antiplasmodial activity in established infection was assessed using the Rane’s test while the Peter’s 4-day suppressive test was used to investigate the effects of the extracts on early infection. There was no record of death in the acute toxicity study. Maximum parasite inhibition was recorded at 250mg/kg body weight for both the stem bark (72.57%) and leaves (52.75%) extracts in the Rane’s test; similar trend was observed in the suppressive test. Maximum mean survival time was recorded at a dose of 250mg/kg body weight for the stem bark (21.4 days) and leaves (18.6 days) extracts respectively. Also, the stem bark and leaves extracts at low doses had better protection on the liver, brain and spleen histology of the P. berghei infected mice relative to the chloroquine treated group. This study has shown that methanol extracts of A. floribunda stem bark and leaves are relatively safe and they have very active antimalarial action.
KEYWORDS: Plasmodium berghei, Allanblackia floribunda, Malaria, Leaves, Stem bark