Department of Tropical and Infectious Diseases, Institute of Primate Research, P.O Box 24481, Karen, Nairobi, 00502, Kenya.
Department of Zoology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, P.O Box 62000-00200, Nairobi, Kenya.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2023 Mar 6;23(1):71. doi: 10.1186/s12906-023-03854-8.
Senna occidentalis (L.) Link has been used worldwide in traditional treatment of many diseases and conditions including snakebite. In Kenya, a decoction from the plant roots taken orally, is used as a cure for malaria. Several studies have demonstrated that extracts from the plant possess antiplasmodial activity, in vitro. However, the safety and curative potency of the plant root against established malaria infection is yet to be scientifically validated, in vivo. On the other hand, there are reports on variation in bioactivity of extracts obtained from this plant species, depending on the plant part used and place of origin among other factors. In this study, we demonstrated the antiplasmodial activity of Senna occidentalis roots extract in vitro, and in mice.
Methanol, ethyl acetate, chloroform, hexane and water extracts of S. occidentalis root were tested for in vitro antiplasmodial activity against Plasmodium falciparum, strain 3D7. Cytotoxicity of the most active solvent extracts was determined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and the curative potency in Plasmodium berghei infected mice evaluated by Rane's test.
All of the solvent extracts tested in this study inhibited the propagation of P. falciparum, strain 3D7, in vitro, with polar extracts being more active than non-polar ones. Methanolic extracts had the highest activity (IC = 1.76) while hexane extract displayed the lowest activity (IC = 18.47). At the tested concentrations, methanolic and aqueous extracts exhibited high selectivity index against P. falciparum strain 3D7 (SI > 10) in the cytotoxicity assay. Further, the extracts significantly suppressed the propagation of P. berghei parasites (P < 0.05) in vivo and increased the survival time of the infected mice (P < 0.0001).
Senna occidentalis (L.) Link root extract inhibits the propagation of malaria parasites in vitro and in BALB/c mice.
番泻叶（L.）Link 在世界范围内被用于传统治疗多种疾病和病症，包括蛇咬伤。在肯尼亚，口服该植物的根煎剂被用于治疗疟疾。几项研究表明，该植物的提取物具有抗疟原虫活性，体外。然而，植物根对已建立的疟疾感染的安全性和疗效尚未在体内得到科学验证。另一方面，据报道，这种植物物种的提取物的生物活性因植物部位、产地等因素而异。在这项研究中，我们证明了番泻叶根提取物在体外和小鼠体内的抗疟原虫活性。
用甲醇、乙酸乙酯、氯仿、正己烷和水从番泻叶根中提取提取物，用于体外抗疟原虫活性试验，抗疟原虫为恶性疟原虫 3D7 株。用 3-（4,5-二甲基噻唑-2-基）-2,5-二苯基四氮唑溴盐（MTT）测定法测定最活跃的溶剂提取物的细胞毒性，并通过 Rane 试验评价其在感染伯氏疟原虫的小鼠中的疗效。
本研究中测试的所有溶剂提取物均抑制恶性疟原虫 3D7 株在体外的繁殖，极性提取物比非极性提取物更活跃。甲醇提取物的活性最高（IC = 1.76），而正己烷提取物的活性最低（IC = 18.47）。在测试浓度下，甲醇和水提取物在细胞毒性试验中对恶性疟原虫 3D7 株表现出高选择性指数（SI > 10）。此外，提取物在体内显著抑制伯氏疟原虫寄生虫的繁殖（P < 0.05），并延长感染小鼠的存活时间（P < 0.0001）。
番泻叶（L.）Link 根提取物抑制体外和 BALB/c 小鼠体内疟原虫的繁殖。
