ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the antimalarial potential of kolaviron (KV), a biflavonoid fraction from Garcinia kola seeds, against Plasmodium berghei (P. berghei) infection in Swiss albino mice.@*METHODS@#The study consists of seven groups of ten mice each. Groups I, II and III were normal mice that received corn oil, KV1 and chloroquine (CQ), respectively. Groups IV, V, VI and VII were infected mice that received corn oil, CQ, KV1 and KV2, respectively. CQ, KV1 and KV2 were given at 10-, 100- and 200-mg/kg daily, respectively for three consecutive days.@*RESULTS@#Administration of KV1 and KV2 significantly (P<0.05) suppressed P. berghei-infection in the mice by 85% and 90%, respectively, while CQ produced 87% suppression relative to untreated infected group after the fifth day of treatment. Also, KV2 significantly (P<0.05) increased the mean survival time of the infected mice by 175%. The biflavonoid prevented a drastic reduction in PCV from day 4 of treatment, indicating its efficacy in ameliorating anaemia. Significant (P<0.05) oxidative stress assessed by the elevation of serum and hepatic malondialdehydewere observed in untreated P. berghei-infected mice. Specifically, serum and hepatic malondialdehyde levels increased by 93% and 78%, respectively in the untreated infected mice. Furthermore, antioxidant indices, viz; superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione-s-transferase, gluathione peroxidase and reduced gluathione decreased significantly (P<0.05) in the tissues of untreated P. berghei-infected mice. KV significantly (P<0.05) ameliorated the P. berghei-induced decrease in antioxidant status of the infected mice.@*CONCLUSIONS@#This study shows that kolaviron, especially at 200 mg/kg, has high antimalarial activities in P. berghei-infected mice, in addition to its known antioxidant properties.