In vivo Evaluation of the Antimalarial Activity of the Aqueous Ethanol Extract of Monodora myristica Seed in Albino Mice

Introduction: In vivo antimalarial activity of ethanol seed extract of Monodora myristica was evaluated in albino mice. Method: Dried Monodora myristica seeds were soxhlet extracted with 70 % ethanol. Phytochemical analysis and median lethal dose (LD50) were evaluated. Antimalarial evaluation was evaluated, using 20 mice grouped into 4. Blood was collected from donor mouse infected with Plasmodium berghei by occulo-puncture. The blood was diluted with normal saline and 0.2ml each was administered to the 20 mice. The animals were left for 72 hours to establish infection. The animals were given treatment by single oral administration for seven days. Groups 1- 4 received 10ml/kg distilled water, 0.78mg/kg of ACT, 250 and 500mg/kg of the extract respectively. AST, ALT and ALP were determined by enzyme kits method. Results: The seed yielded 48.78g (8.13 %) extract. Monodora myristica seed contained alkaloids (28.4 %), saponins (15.20 %), and tannins (4.9 %). Monodora myristica seed has high moisture content (22.67 %) and low ash value (4.52 %). The LD50 was greater than5000mg/kg. The significant decrease in parasitemia observed was dose dependent as the 250mg/kg and 500mg/kg of the extract caused 86.64 % and 90.58 % suppression in parasitaemia respectively, at day 7. The positive controls recorded 94.76 % suppression in parasitaemia at day 7. The treatment groups recorded significant decrease (p0.05) in percentage parasitaemia. No significant change in ALT, AST and ALP was observed. Conclusion: Monodora myristica seed has antimalarial activity, which supports its antimalarial ethnomedicinal use.