In vivo Antimalarial Activity of Crude Extract of Aerial Part of Artemisia abyssinica Against Plasmodium berghei in Mice

Antiplasmodial activity of the 80% methanolic extract of Artemisia abyssinica (A. abyssinica) aerial part against chloroquine sensitive Plasmodium berghei (P. berghei) in mice using the four day suppression test was conducted. A total of thirty mice assigned to 5 groups of 6 animals each were infected with chloroquine sensitive P. berghei (1x10 parasites each) intraperitoneally. The hydro-alcoholic extract (100, 200 7 and 400 mg/kg), standard drug (Chloroquine, 10mg/kg) and vehicle (distilled water) were administered orally daily for the treatment period. Percent Parasitemia was determined on the 5 day from Giemsa stained smears th obtained from tail vein and percent parasitemia suppression was calculated. Daily measurement of rectal temperature was also taken while body weight and packed cell volume (PCV) were recorded on day 0 & 5. The extract produced a dose dependent reduction in parasite density compared to the control group. Percept parasitemia calculation revealed 20.59, 64.7 and 82.4% inhibition at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of the extract, respectively (P<0.01 at the latter two doses). The result obtained from the present work indicated that A. abyssinica has a promising antiplasmodial activity against chloroquine sensitive P. berghei in a dose dependent manner for which further research is needed to elucidate its active principles.