Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the antiplasmodial activity of mangrove plant, Ipomoea pes-caprae (I. pes-caprae) (leaves, stems, flowers and roots) against chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum (3D7 strain) (P. falciparum) and cytotoxicity against brine shrimp larvae and THP-1 cell line. Methods: The plants (I. pes-caprae) were collected from Machilipatnam mangrove forest (latitude 16°17′ N and longitude 81 °13′ E) of Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India. Crude extracts from dried leaves, stems, flowers and roots of I. pes-caprae were prepared through Soxhlet extraction using methanol, chloroform, hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous sequentially. These extracts were tested in vitro against P. falciparum (3D7 strain) adopted in laboratory. The crude extracts were also tested for their cytotoxicity against brine shrimp larvae and THP-1 cell line. The phytochemical screenings were also conducted with standard methods. As the part of the study, the extracts were checked for any chemical injury to erythrocytes. Results: Out of these extracts, methanolic and aqueous extracts of all plant parts and chloroform extract of stems were active, and the ethyl acetate extracts were weekly active against P. falciparum. The extracts of chloroform (except stems) and hexane were inactive. Amongst these extracts, the methanolic extract of root showed excellent antimalarial activity with the IC 50 value of 15.00 µg/mL. Cytotoxic evaluation revealed that methanolic, aqueous and ethyl acetate extracts were slightly cytotoxic whereas chloroform and hexane extracts were more toxic against brine shrimp. All extracts were non-toxic to THP-1 cells. The chemical injury to erythrocytes was also evaluated and it did not show any morphological changes in erythrocytes due to the effect of plant extracts of I. pes-caprae after 48 h of incubation. The phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids, triterpenes, flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, carbohydrates, phenols, saponins, phlobatannins and steroids. Conclusions: This is the first report of antimalarial activity of I. pes-caprae and it is concluded that the methanolic extract of root is potent for the development of new antimalarial drugs.

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