In vitro assessment of selected Ghanaian medicinal plants’ extracts’ activity against plasmodium falciparum

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Date
June 2015
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Abstract
Previous reports of the existence of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum strains and in recent times, the increasing reports on the emergence of artemisinin-resistant strains of the malaria parasites call for continuous search for new anti-malarial medicines. The purpose of this study was therefore to screen some selected Ghanaian medicinal plants’ extracts for anti-P. falciparumactivity. Processed extracts of 50 medicinal plants obtained from the Centre for Plant Medicine Research (CPMR), Akuapim-Mampong, and stored at the Department of Parasitology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), were used. In vitro screening of the crude extracts for anti-P. falciparumactivity were performed using Plasmodium falciparum(3D7 strains) cultures and FACS analysis. Guava MitoPotential(R) was used to determine the apoptosis induction properties of active plant extracts. Two active extracts were derived from Mangifera indicaand Alcornea corifolia, respectively, with IC50values of 10 µg/mL and 14 µg/mL, were found out of 50 screened extracts. These extracts induced some level of apoptosis in Plasmodium falciparum. The active extracts are potential candidates that can be investigated further for their anti-P. falciparumactivity in vitroand in vivo, and enhances the prospects of development of a new anti-malarial medicine
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A Thesis submitted to the Department of Clinical Microbiology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy School of Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, 2015
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