Antimalarial activities of crude stembark fractions of Cylicodiscus gabunensis

Background: Malaria is one of the greatest health challenges worldwide threatening millions of people especially children in sub Saharan Africa. Cylicodiscus gabunensis (Taub.) Harms (Mimosaceae) is a tree plant of Tropical Africa used in traditional medicine for the treatment of malaria and other diseases. Objective: The objective of this work was to evaluate the antimalarial activities of Cylicodiscus gabunensis stembark fractions to ascertain the folkloric claim of its antimalarial activity. Methodology: The stembark fractions of Cylicodiscus gabunensis (n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol; 40 mg/kg) of C. gabunensis were investigated for antimalarial activities against chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium berghei infections in Swiss albino mice. Chloroquine (5 mg/kg) and pyrimethamine (1.2 mg/kg) were used as positive controls. Thin films made from tail blood of each mouse were used to assess the level of parasitaemia. Results: The fractions significantly (p<0.01-0.001) reduced parasitaemia in suppressive, prophylactic and curative antimalarial mouse models with the chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions exerting the most significant activities (p<0.05-0.01) than other fractions. The mean survival time (MST) was significantly (p<0.01-0.001) improved to 20.0 days compared to control (10.00 days). Conclusion: The results indicate that chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions of C. gabunenesis stembark are the most potent antimalarial fractions with active antimalarial compounds that can be use as lead to the development of new antimalarial drug. Keyword: Antiplasmodial, Cylicodiscus gabunensis, medicinal plant, ethnomedicin