In vitro and in vivo antimalarial activity assays of seeds from balanites aegyptiaca: Compounds of the extract show growth inhibition and activity against plasmodial aminopeptidase

Balanites aegyptiaca (balanitaceae) is a widely grown desert plant with multiuse potential. in the present paper,a crude extract from b. aegyptiaca seeds equivalent to a ratio of 1:2000 seeds to the extract was screened for antiplasmodial activity. the determined ic50 value for the chloroquine- susceptible plasmodium falciparum nf54 strain was 68.26 g / l ± 3.5. analysis of the extract by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detected 6-phenyl-2(h)-1,2,4-triazin-5-one oxime,an inhibitor of the parasitic m18 aspartyl aminopeptidase as one of the compounds which is responsible for the in vitro antiplasmodial activity. the crude plant extract had a k i of 2.35 g / l and showed a dose-dependent response. after depletion of the compound,a significantly lower inhibition was determined with a k i of 4.8 g / l. moreover,two phenolic compounds,that is,2,6-di-tert-butyl-phenol and 2,4-di-tert-butyl-phenol,with determined ic50 values of 50.29 m ± 3 and 47.82 m ± 2.5,respectively,were detected. these compounds may contribute to the in vitro antimalarial activity due to their antioxidative properties. in an in vivo experiment,treatment of balb/c mice with the aqueous balanite extract did not lead to eradication of the parasites,although a reduced parasitemia at day 12 p.i. was observed. copyright 2011 peter kusch et al.