ABSTRACT
Twenty-two healthy albino mice were grouped into A, B, C, D, and E. Group A had six mice while groups B – E had four mice each. The mice were infected with Plasmodium berghei and the methanol extract of the leaves of Adansonia digitata was obtained by maceration extraction method. Phytochemical screening of the plant extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, carbohydrates and cardiac glycosides. The infected mice Group C, D and E were orally treated with the methanol leaves extract, while Group B was orally treated with water. After twenty days of treatment, the result obtained showed that the parasite level of the mice in Group E, treated with 400mg/kg body weight of the extract was greatly suppressed, so also was that of Group B, treated with 25mg/kg body weight of lumarthem, while Group C and D treated with 100mg/kg and 200mg/kg body weight of the extract showed a moderately suppressed growth of the parasite. The mice in Group A that were untreated showed an increase in the parasitemia level. The methanol extract of Adansonia digitata possesses invivo antiplasmodial activity on Plasmodium berghei by suppressing the parasite level but appears to be dose dependent.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
1.0Introduction__________________________1
1.1Malaria - Background _____________________2
1.2Malaria parasites__________________________4
1.3Plasmodium berghei_____________________5
1.4Baobab leaves (medicinal uses)___________6
1.5Aim and objectives_____________________7
CHAPTER TWO
2.0Literature review___________________________8
2.1Malaria ________________________________8
2.1.1Cause________________________________9
2.1.2Life cycle________________________________9
2.1.3Signs of symptoms ___________________________10
2.1.4Complications ___________________________10
2.1.5Diagnosis_________________________________11
2.1.6Treatment_________________________________11
2.1.7Prevention_________________________________12
2.2Plasmodium berghei_______________________13
2.2.1Life cycle of P. berghei (asexual development)14
2.2.2Sexual development ______________________15
2.2.3Oocyst and sporozite development____________17
2.3Baobab (Adansonia digitata)__________________18
2.4Biological activity of baobab__________________19
2.5Uses of baobab in traditional medicine_______22
2.6Scientific classification Adansonia digitata_______24
CHAPTER THREE
3.0Materials and methods_________________25
3.1Materials_________________________________25
3.1.1Apparatus_________________________________25
3.1.2Reagents_________________________________26
3.2Collection and preparation of plant material_______26
3.3Plant extraction____________________________27
3.4Phytochemical screening__________________27
3.5Source of experimental animals_____________30
3.6Parasite source and invivo test__________________30
3.7Animal group and invivo anti-plasmodial test___31
3.8Blood examination _______________________31
3.9Calculation of percentage parasitemia and
percentage yield____________________________32
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0Results_________________________________33
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0Discussion_________________________________36
5.1Conclusion_________________________________37
5.2Recommendation____________________________38
Reference _________________________________39
