Antimalarial Activity of Fagaropsis angolensis (Rutaceae) Crude Extracts and Solvent Fractions of Its Stem Bark Against Plasmodium berghei in Mice

A current challenge in malaria control and elimination is the progressive resistance to most antimalarial drugs which necessitates the discovery of new options. Hence, the current study was initiated to investigate the antimalarial activity of the stem bark of in mice. The test material was extracted using 80% methanol in a cold maceration technique and further fractionated in solvents of varied polarity. Acute oral toxicity was assessed following the OECD guideline no. 425 protocol. Then, the antimalarial activities of the crude extract and the fractions were evaluated in a 4-day suppression test. Rane's test was also used to evaluate the curative potential of the n-butanol fraction that showed the highest effect during the 4-day suppressive test. Parameters such as parasitemia suppression, mean survival time, packed cell volume, rectal temperature, and body weight were determined to establish the activity. The acute oral toxicity test indicated that the plant did not cause any signs of behavioral changes or mortality at 200 mg/kg limit dose. In a 4-day suppression test, a significant dose-dependent reduction in the parasitemia level and prolongation of survival time were observed (p