Therapeutic potential of concurrent administration of Hippocratea africana and Eremomastax speciosa in the treatment of Plasmodium berghei infected mice

Context: Despite the commonness of polyherbal therapy among the locals in the treatment of malaria in Nigeria, there are no adequate data on the therapeutic potentials and safety profile of these herbal combinations. The use of these plants in combination in the treatment of suspected and confirmed malaria infection is very common among the Niger Delta dwellers in Nigeria. Aim: To evaluate the therapeutic potential of co-administration of Hippocratea Africana, a medicinal plant with well documented antimalarial properties, and Eremomastax speciosa, a tropical plant with well reported antianaemic potential and haematoprotective properties. Materials and Methods: Thirty albino mice, whose weights ranged between 32 - 37g, were divided into five groups having six mice in each. Clinical features, weight changes and parasite clearance were evaluated to determine therapeutic potential of treatments. An inoculum which consisted of 5 x 107 Plasmodium berghei infested erythrocytes per ml of blood from a donor mouse with 64% parasitaemia was injected into each mouse by intraperitoneal route. The mice were kept at room temperature of 28.0 ± 20C for 7 days for the parasite to develop. A non-parasitized mice group served as normal control. After parasitaemia was confirmed using standard procedure, 200mg/kg and 300mg/Kg body weights of Hippocratea Africana root bark and Eremomastax speciosa leaf extracts respectively, were administered by oral routes to the respective groups of mice for 6 days. A parasitized group was treated with fixed doses of 3mg/kg body weight of Artemether and 18mg/kg body weight of Lumefantrine. Another parasitized group was left untreated. Results: Mice treated concurrently with the extracts of H. africana and E. speciosa showed a significant improvement in clinical signs in comparison to the untreated group. The mean body weights of mice administered both extracts was significantly (P < 0.05) increased when compared to the parasitized untreated mice and those treated with extracts separately. The mice treated concurrently with the two extracts also showed significant (P < 0.05) reduction in percentage parasitaemia and significant (P < 0.05) increase in percentage parasite clearance comparable to that of Artemether-lumefantrine. The parasitized untreated group recorded 50% mortality, while the group treated concurrently with the two extracts did not record any mortality.

Analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of Cheiloclinium cognatum root barks

Cheiloclinium cognatum (Hippocrateaceae) has been used in folk medicine to treat fever and edema. In this paper, we report the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the crude dichloromethane extract (DECc) from C. cognatum root barks collected in Auguste de Saint Hilaire wood at Universidade Federal de Goiás. Doses of 0.1, 0.3 and 1.0 g/kg caused a dose-dependent inhibition of croton oil-induced ear edema in mice equivalent to 21, 30 and 51 percent, respectively. There was a significant increase in analgesic-meter-induced tail flick test equivalent to 105, 189 and 200 percent of increase tail flick reaction time. These results allowed to suggest that C. cognatum could be a source of new compounds which anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities.

Cheiloclinium cognatum é uma planta da família das Hippocrateaceae, popularmente conhecida como bacupari, usada popularmente no tratamento de febre e edemas. Neste artigo, descrevemos as atividades antiinflamatória e analgésica do extrato bruto diclorometânico das cascas das raízes (DECc), coletadas no bosque Auguste de Saint Hilaire, localizado na Universidade Federal de Goiás. Doses de 0,1, 0,3 e 1,0 g/kg causaram uma redução de 21, 30 e 51 por cento, respectivamente, no edema de orelha de camundongos, induzido pelo óleo de cróton. No método algesimétrico, flexão de cauda, observou-se um significativo aumento no tempo para reação ao estímulo térmico equivalente a 105, 189 e 200 por cento. Estes resultados sugerem que C. cognatum pode ser uma fonte de novos compostos com atividades antiinflamatória e analgésica.