In vivo antiplasmodial potential of Thaumatococcus danielli extracts (Benth.) against Plasmodium berghei

Abstract Elimination of malaria infection with available antimalarial drugs is threatened by resistance developed by Plasmodium species and requires alternative drugs. Thaumatococcus danielli leaves are traditionally used in some local communities in Nigeria to treat malaria. However, no scientific study has proven this claim. This study evaluated the antiplasmodial activity of T. danielli extracts in Swiss albino mice. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of the choice plant and acute toxicity of its extracts were performed followed by a suppressive test of plant extracts against Plasmodium berghei (NK-65 strain). Parasitaemia, temperature, weight, packed cell volume, and mean survival time of the mice were monitored during the test. Data analysis was executed with a one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s posthoc test in Windows SPSS version 26.0. Ethyl acetate extract at 800mg/kg body weight had the highest suppressive effect of 67.37% in a dose-dependent pattern (p  0.05), making it an ideal antiplasmodial extract. Non-toxic extracts of the test plant had considerable antimalarial efficacy caused by detected phytochemicals associated with antimalarial activity. The bioassay of isolated and characterized active compound(s) of the test plant is necessary for the development of new antimalarial(s) from T. danielli leaves.