Curative, Suppressive and Prophylactic Phyto-Medicinal Therapy/Synergistic Efficacy of Alstonia boonei/Capsicum frutescens Ethanolic Extracts against Plasmodium berghei (NK 65)/Salmonella typhi (ATCC 35723) Infected Swiss Albino Mice

The purpose of this research work is to evaluates the medicinal activity of Alstonia boonei and Capsicum frutescens extracts for Prophylactic, Curative & Suppressive phytomedicinal therapy against Plasmodium berghei (NK 65)/Salmonella typhi (ATCC 35723) Infected Swiss Albino Mice. Alstonia boonei belongs to the Apocynaceae family and has several medicinal properties, for the treatment of various diseases while Capsicum frutescens is a tropical plant, an important agricultural crop and a popular African vegetables. The stem bark of Alstonia boonei and fruit of Capsicum frutescens were collected from Adekunle Ajasin University’s reserve forest. Both plant samples were authenticated in the herbarium unit of Forest Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) with identification number FHI 109806,109872 respectively. Plasmodium berghei (NK 65) and Salmonella Typhi (ATCC 35723) from the Institute of Advanced Medical Research and Training (IAMRAT), College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The animals were acclimatized for two weeks and fed equally on rat chow and water throughout the period of the research work. A standard inoculum of 1×107 of parasitized erythrocytes from a donor mouse and 1x10-6 innoculum size of Salmonella typhi in volumes of 0.2 ml were used to infect the experimental animals intra-peritoneally. The suppressive antimalarial test also called“Test on Early Malaria Infection” was used in this study. Twenty five Male Swiss albino mice weighing between 18-20g were obtained from the animal house, the experimental animal were divided into five groups of five mice each, which were inoculated with the parasite and the organism (Plasmodium berghei/Salmonella typhi) on the first day of the experiment (day 1). 72 hours. Group’s 1-3 mice received 100, 200 and 400mg/kg body weight of the extract per day orally. While the 4th group served as the positive control received 10mg/kg Chloroquine/Ciprofloxacin orally, 5th group received 0.2ml distilled water and served as negative control for the same period. Result obtained on observed the establishment of malaria and typhoid infection by administration of treatments dosage with different concentration of Alstonia boonei and Capsicum frutescens. The synergism of Alstonia boonei stem bark and Capsicum frutescens extract with significant (P< 0.05) dose dependent reduction in percentage parasitemia level at the three (100, 200, and 400) mg/kg doses, While P. berghei parasitaemia was the highest, Chloroquine /Ciprofloxacin, a significant weight loss compared to the other mice groups, suggesting that weight loss is a key criterion in this model. The synergism of Alstonia boonei of stem bark and Capsicum frutescens friut extracts exhibits a significant curative, suppressive and prophylactic potency against Plasmodium berghei (NK 65)/Salmonella typhi (ATCC 35723) in infected mice as demonstrated by the reduction in the level of parasitaemia dose dependently. It is evident based on these findings that Alstonia boonei / Capsicum frutescens possess promising and potent antimalarial and anti-typhoid potential which justifies its usage in folk medicine for the management of malaria and typhoid infection.