FUNGI AS POTENTIAL SOURCE OF ANTIMALARIAL AGENTS

Recent developments in the field of biological control of malaria mosquitoes have shown that certain fungi are virulent to adult Anopheles mosquitoes. This was indicated by practical delivery of two entomopathogenic fungi, Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, which infected and killed adult Anopheles gambiae, the Africa’s main malaria. The present study reports the antiplasmodial properties of aqueous extract of a fungus, Chlorophyllum molybdites in vivo in Swiss albino mice, using suppressive, curative and prophylactic procedures. The extract at a dose of 200 mgkg -1 day -1 given orally, for four days was able to inhibit the growth of Plasmodium berghei in mice for up to 42.6 %, 42.0 % and 44.4 % when concurrently compared with standard chloroquine at a dose of 5 mgkg 1 day -1 which completely cleared the parasites. The result of this study indicates the potentials of macrofungi as a