In vivo Study of Antiplasmodial Activity of Terminalia avicennioides and Its Effect on Lipid Profile and Oxidative Stress in Mice Infected with Plasmodium berghei

Aims: To determine the antiplasmodial activity of methanolic extract of T. avicennioides and its effect on oxidative stress and the lipid profiles in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei.
Study Design: Mice used for this study were grouped into five. The first group was not infected with malaria parasite (normal control), the second group was infected with the parasite but not treated with antimalarial drugs (negative control), the third group was infected with the parasite and treated with 5mg/kg body weight of artesunat (positive control), while the fourth and fifth groups were infected with malaria parasite and treated with 100 and 200mg/kg of T. avicennioides respectively.
Methodology: The parasitaemia was monitored for five days. The animals were sacrificed on the fifth day and the blood was collected. The serum was used to assess the biochemical parameters using randox kits.
Results: While parasite density increases in the negative control per day, there was reduction in parasite density in treated groups. The parasite clearance was significantly higher (P = .05) in those treated with 200mg/kg of T. avicennioides than those treated with 100mg/kg of T. avicennioides and 5mg/kg of artesunat. The malondialdehyde level was significantly higher in the negative control, while superoxide dismutase and catalase levels were significantly reduced when compared with group treated with 200mg/kgbdwt of T. avicennioides. HDL level was significantly higher (P = .05) in those treated with 200mg/kg than in the normal, negative and positive control. The triglycerides level was significantly higher in the negative control when compared with the group treated with the extract of T. avicennioides.
Conclusion: This study showed that the methanolic extract of T. avicennioides display dose-related in vivo antiplasmodial and antioxidant activities as well as reduced the serum and liver lipoprotein cholesterol in mice infected with P. berghei.