Possible anti malaria potential of Nwagbakelu formulation and its effect on selected liver function indices of albino mice

Abstract

The anti-malarial potential of a locally formulated trado-medicine, Nwagbakelu and its effects on selected liver function parameters was investigated on malaria infected albino mice. Study mice were grouped into A, B, C; Group A mice was administered colart 0.1mL; Group B mice was not treated and it served as negative control; Group C mice were treated with nwagbakelu. All treatment lasted for five (5) days, mimicking recommended administration pattern. The activity of a standard malaria drug Colart which is a combination of artemether and lumenfantrine was used as a positive control for comparison. In comparison to the positive control samples a 100 % elevation of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) was observed in nwagbakelu treated mice whilst the non-treated and Colart treated mice maintained elevated level of blood concentration of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatise (ALP), total protein, albumin, and conjugated bilirubin. The percentage parasitemia of each group were obtained everyday of treatment. No significant differences were found for percentage parasitemia in group B mice for the study period, while those of those of group A showed marked 100 % clearance in all mice but one mice which was mildly (4%) infected the end of day 5. Nwagbakelu cleared the parasite completely at percentage parasitemia of 12 and reduced the parasitemia of other infected mice by 8% daily. These findings highlight the anti-malarial potentials of nwagbakelu and raise concerns on possible hepatotoxicity of this herbal formulation by virtue of elevation of ALT.

Keywords: Anti-malaria; Herbal formulation; Nwagbakelu; Medicinal plants; Hepatotoxicity