Antimalarial Activity, Phytochemical Composition and Acute Toxicity Tests of Ethanolic Stem Bark Extract of Alstonia boonei De Wild

Abstract

Many modern medicines are derived from the chemicals available in plants. The utilization of plants against diseases by traditional medical practitioners is common in many parts of the world and several researches have been carried out to determine the scientific basis for the use of such plants. Alstonia boonei is one of the many medicinal plants found in Nigeria. The plant parts have been traditionally used to treat various ailments including malaria. This study was carried out to evaluate the antimalarial activity, phytochemical composition and toxicity of ethanolic stem bark extract of Alstonia boonei. The extract showed substantial dose dependent antimalarial activity as indicated by the recorded suppressive (45.67%, 58.53% and 74.68% for 100, 200 and 400 mgkg-1 body weights) prophylactic (33.57%, 45.64% and 61.23% for 100, 200 and 400 mgkg-1 body weights) and curative effects (62.35%, 68.57% and 79.63% for 100, 200 and 400 mgkg-1 body weights) on Plasmodium berghei infected white albino mice. The results of the antimalarial tests were significantly different compared to the negative control at P < 0.05. The phytochemical evaluation showed that the plant contained important chemical compounds including tannins, flavonoids, steroids, phenols, alkaloids, saponins, glycosides and terpenoids. The acute toxicity test showed that the extract is safe as observed on the tested mice. It was concluded that the extract contains important active antimalarial compounds that are safe and should be further investigated for antimalarial drug development.