Malaria Control & Elimination

Malaria is still a serious problem with increasing of mortality in children annually. One of major causes of death in malaria, organ damage especially liver, has been observed. Hence, we aimed to investigate hepatoprotective effect of traditional plant, Tinospora crispa during malaria infection using Plasmodium berghei infected mice as in vivo model. Aqueous crude extract of T. crispa was freshly prepared. For in vivo test, groups of ICR mice were intraperitoneally injected with 6×106 parasitized erythrocytes of P. berghei ANKA, and given with the extract at doses 10, 50, and 500 mg/kg twice a day for 4-consecutive days. Aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase are measured for liver damage while albumin measurement is for liver function. The results showed that liver damage was observed during malaria infection as indicating by significantly (p<0.05) increase of AST and ALT, and markedly decrease of albumin. Interestingly, T. crispa extract exerted hepatoprotective effect during malaria infection. The highest hepatoprotective activity of the extract was shown at dose of 500 mg/kg. Additionally, there were no any toxics to liver function in normal mice treated with this extract. It can be concluded that aqueous crude extract of T. crispa exerts hepatoprotective effect during P. berghei infection.

Malaria-associated hemolysis is associated with mortality in malaria patients. It has been speculated that oxidative stress and inflammation induced by parasite infection and propagation are involved in its pathophysiology. Hence, this study was aimed to investigate the anti-hemolysis of Siamese neem tree (Azadirachta indica) extracts against Plasmodium berghei infection in mice. Leaf aqueous crude extract of Siamese neem tree was prepared using hot water method and used for oral treatment in mice. ICR mice were infected with 1×107 infected red blood cells of P. berghei ANKA by intraperitoneal injection and given the extracts (500, 1,000, and 2,000 mg/kg) for 4-consecutive days. To assess hemolysis, hematocrit levels were then evaluated. Hematocrit level was markedly decreased during malaria parasite propagation in mice. However, anti-hemolytic effect was observed in infected mice treated with the extracts at dose-dependent manners, especially at doses of 1,000 and 2,000 mg/kg. Although hemolysis was observed in pyrimethamine, antimalarial drug, treated group, but it could be protected by combination treatment of pyrimethamine with this extract. In conclusion, aqueous crude extracts of Siamese neem tree exerted anti-hemolysis induced by malaria infection and could be used as combination tre