Malaria is a major public health problem in the world which is responsible for death of millions particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Today, the control of malaria has become gradually more complex due to the spread of drug-resistant parasites. Medicinal plants are the unquestionable source of effective antimalarials. The present study aimed to evaluate antiplasmodial activity and acute toxicity of the plant Strychnos mitis in Plasmodium berghei infected mice. Standard procedures were employed to investigate acute toxicity and 4-day suppressive effect of crude aqueous and hydro-methanolic extracts of the leaves of Strychnos mitis against P. berghei in Swiss albino mice. Water, n-hexane and chloroform fractions, obtained from crude hydro-methanolic extract, were also tested for their suppressive effect against P. berghei. All crude extracts revealed no obvious acute toxicity in mice up to the highest dose administered (2000 mg/kg). All crude and solvent fractions of the leaves of Strychnos mitis inhibited parasitaemia significantly (p < 0.01). At the highest dose of 600 mg/kg, both aqueous and hydro-methanolic extracts demonstrated higher performance with 95.5 and 93.97% parasitaemia suppression, respectively. All doses of crude extracts and fractions of leaves of Strychnos mitis prolonged survival time of infected mice dose dependently. The highest two doses of the crude aqueous and hydro-methanolic extracts, and chloroform and aqueous fractions prevented weight loss in a dose dependent manner. Whereas, all doses of n-hexane fraction prevented loss of body weight but not in a dose dependent manner. The crude aqueous extract at the doses of 400 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg and hydro-methanolic extract at all dose levels significantly (p < 0.01) prevented packed cell volume reduction. Crude aqueous extract at a dose of 600 mg/kg and hydro-methanolic extract at all dose levels significantly prevented temperature reduction. Phytochemical screening of the crude aqueous and hydro-methanolic extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids, anthraquinones, glycosides, terpenoids, saponins, tannins and phenols. The results of this study provide support the traditional therapeutic use of Strychnos mitis for treatment of malaria. However, further in-depth study is needed to evaluate the potential of the plant towards the development of new antimalarial agent.

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In vivo antimalarial activity of crude extracts and solvent fractions of leaves of Strychnos mitis in Plasmodium berghei infected mice

A Review on the Recent Advances in Pharmacological Studies on Medicinal Plants; Animal Studies are Done but Clinical Studies Needs Completing

Strychnos potatorum Linn.F. is a medicinally important endangered forest tree species which belongs to Loganiaceae and is also known as nirmali and clearing nut tree. In traditional medicinal systems like Ayurveda, Siddha and Greek, the plant parts are used for treating eye and urinary tract infections; gonorrhoea and kidney troubles, leucorrhoea, tuberculosis, diabetes, venereal diseases and acute diarrhea. The plant showed the presence of various important phytochemical constituents which may be responsible for many of the pharmacological activities such as diuretic activity, antidiarrhoeal activity, contraceptive efficacy, hepatoprotectivity, antioxidant activity, antiarthritic activity, antiulcerogenic activity, antinociceptive and antipyretic effects. But the mechanism of action for these properties is not fully understood. The findings presented in this review indicate that this plant should be studied more extensively to confirm these properties and to reveal other potential therapeutic uses.

Recent advances in elucidating the biological and chemical properties of strychnos potatorum linn. f. - a review

The present paper deals with the phytochemical characteristics of leaves and bark of an endangered medicinally important tree species of strychnos potatorum . Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, carbohydrates, tannins, sterols, glycosides, oil and fats, phenolic compounds, protein and amino acids, gums and mucilage. The functional groups were identified through IR spectrum.

E. Sanmugapriya

Papers

Antinociceptive and antipyretic effects of Strychnos potatorum Linn. seeds on experimental rats.