Evaluation of the antimalarial properties and standardization of tablets of Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae) in mice.

The antimalarial activities of the tablet suspension of the bark and leaf of Azadirachta indica were evaluated on Plasmodium yoelli nigeriensis infected mice. The tablet suspensions exhibited high prophylactic, mode-rate suppressive and a very minimal curative schizonticidal effect. No animal was cured of the infection in the curative test and there was not much increase in the survival time of the animals compared with the control. The tablet suspensions from the leaf and bark at a concentration of 800 mg/kg and chloroquine at a concentration of 62.5 mg/kg body weight produced average percentage (%) parasitaemia of 79.6%, 68.2% and 99.5% for leaf, bark and chloroquine, respectively, in chemosuppression. Also in the prophylactic treatment, the tablet suspensions at 800 mg/kg and pyrimethamine at a concentration of 0.35 mg/kg gave an average parasitaemia reduction of 75.3%, 65.6% and 98.3% for the leaf, bark and pyrimethamine, respectively. There was a clear indication that both tablet suspensions from the leaf and bark possess antimalarial activity and a suspension from the former is relatively more effective than the bark. Extrapolation of the results from the antimalarial activity of the tablet suspension of the crude plant parts showed that an adult human would need to ingest a minimum of 48 g of the powdered plant material per day, an amount that is impracticable. A survival index value of 0.33 was obtained with the 800 mg/kg dose level, indicating that the tablet suspension has some moderate beneficial effect. Copyright 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.