Background: Plumbagin is the major active constituent in several plants including Plumbago indica Linn. (root).\nThis compound has been shown to exhibit a wide spectrum of biological and pharmacological activities. The\npresent study aimed to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo antimalarial activity of plumbagin including its acute\nand subacute toxicity in mice.\nMethods: In vitro antimalarial activity of plumbagin against K1 and 3D7 Plasmodium falciparum clones were\nassessed using SYBR Green I based assay. In vivo antimalarial activity was investigated in Plasmodium bergheiinfected\nmouse model (a 4-day suppressive test).\nResults: Plumbagin exhibited promising antimalarial activity with in vitro IC50 (concentration that inhibits parasite\ngrowth to 50%) against 3D7 chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum and K1 chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum clones\nof 580 (270ââ?¬â??640) and 370 (270ââ?¬â??490) nM, respectively. Toxicity testing indicated relatively low toxicity at the dose\nlevels up to 100 (single oral dose) and 25 (daily doses for 14 days) mg/kg body weight for acute and subacute\ntoxicity, respectively. Chloroquine exhibited the most potent antimalarial activity in mice infected with P. berghei\nANKA strain with respect to its activity on the reduction of parasitaemia on day 4 and the prolongation of\nsurvival time.\nConclusions: Plumbagin at the dose of 25 mg/kg body weight given for 4 days was safe and produced weak\nantimalarial activity. Chemical derivatization of the parent compound or preparation of modified formulation is\nrequired to improve its systemic bioavailability
Loading....