Pharmacological evaluation of whole plant ethanol extract of Thesium viride against Plasmodium berghei and Trypanosoma brucei inoculated into BALB/c mice

Abstract

Malaria and African trypanosomiasis are major public health issues in Africa, and urgent efforts are needed to identify new anti-protozoal drugs with high effectiveness and low toxicity. This study was designed to determine the pharmacological activities of whole plant ethanol extract of Thesium viride on a Plasmodium berghei and Trypanosoma brucei in BALB/c mice model. The whole dried plant sample was collected from Zaria Local Government Area in Kaduna State, and the plant was processed according to standard methods. Forty (40) adult BALB/c mice (Mus musculus) were randomly allocated to two major groups, A and B, to determine the anti-plasmodial and anti-trypanosomal activities of the plant extract, respectively. In group A, each mouse in subgroups I to V was inoculated with 0.1 mL containing 10⁶ P. berghei merozoites. In group B, each mouse in subgroups I to V was inoculated with 0.1 mL containing 10⁶ T. brucei trypomastigotes. Following patency of 3 days, all mice in groups A and B were either non-treated, treated with standard drug or treated at varying dosages of the ethanol extract for four days. Parasitaemia level, packed cell volume, rectal temperature, and body weight of the experimental mice were measured. Results generated indicate established that whole plant ethanol extract of Thesium viride showed a significant (p< 0.01) suppressive ability against Plasmodium berghei in all the mice administered 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg/day, compared to Trypanosoma brucei in mice administered similar dosages. Additionally, the extract showed better anti-weight loss ability in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice compared to Trypanosoma brucei-infected mice. The study concludes that the ethanol extract of Thesium viride has anti-protozoal prospects and should be explored for further pharmacological investigation.