Antiplasmodial Efficacy of Fruit Extracts and Cladodes of Opuntia ficus-indica

Abstract

Abstract

Development of antimalarial drugs from medicinal plants continues to be a very appealing process. Therapeutic effects of the ethyl acetate cladodes an extract of Opuntia ficus-indica has been evaluated in Plasmodium berghei infection in mice. The extract of the Opuntia ficus-indica has an in vitro activity against the parasite, the average parasitemia of 4.7% from two wells at 24 hour concerning a blood control containing only 7.5%. The reduced parasitemia extract batch has proved to process more efficiently than the control group with olive oil, with 3.2% parasitemia on day 5 and 30% on day 8. However, the average parasitemia of the treated animals with the extract has been lower than the control detected one which showes very low levels of parasitemia (5%, 3.7% and 6.7%). This study presents an in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the antiplasmodial effects of two-plant extracts of Opuntia ficus-indica commonly used in Tunisia as a folk medicine. It is concluded that the ethyl acetate cladodes extract of Opuntia ficus-indica prove to be potentially useful for the development of antimalarial drug.

Keywords: Antimalaria, Percentage suppression, Opuntia ficus-indica, Plasmodium Berghei, Parasitaemia