ANTIMALARIAL ACTIVITY OF PROSOPIS CINERARIA (L) DRUCE AGAINST CHLOROQUINE SENSITIVE PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM 3D7 STRAIN

P.V.V. Satish, K. Somaiah, P. Brahmam, N. Sree Rekha and Dr. K. Sunita*

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to evaluate the antiplasmodial activity of medicinal plant Prosopis cineraria against chloroquine (CQ)-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 strain and cytotoxicity against THP-1 cell line. The plant Prosopis cineraria were collected from Acharya Nagarjuna University Campus, Nagarjunanagar, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Crude extracts from dried leaves, stem, flowers and roots of P. cineraria were prepared through soxhlet extraction using methanol, chloroform, hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous sequentially. These extracts were tested in vitro against laboratory adopted P. falciparum 3D7 strain. The crude extracts were also tested for their cytotoxicity against THP-1 cell line. The phytochemical screenings were also conducted with standard methods. The ethyl acetate extract of leaf, stem, flower and root; chloroform extract of root showed IC50 values from 5-50μg/mL with good antimalarial activity and were significant at P <0.05 and <0.01. The chloroform extracts of leaf, stem, flower; the aqueous extracts of stem, flower and root showed IC50 values ranging from 50 to 100μg/mL which shown activity. Out of all the extracts, the ethyl acetate extract of flower (IC50 = 27.33μg/mL) has shown excellent antimalarial activity. The methanol extracts of leaf, stem, flower and root; hexane extract of leaves, stem, flower and root; aqueous extract of leaves were inactive. All the extracts were non toxic to THP-1 cells. The phytochemical screening has revealed the presence of alkaloids, triterpenes, flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, carbohydrates, phenols, saponins, phlobatamins and steroids. This is the first report of antimalarial activity of P. cineraria and it is concluded that the ethyl acetate extract of flower is potent for the development of antimalarial drugs.

Keywords: Prosopis cineraria, antiplasmodial activity, IC50, cytotoxic activity, selectivity index.