In vivo antimalarial activities of extracts from Amaranthus spinosus L. and Boerhaavia erecta L. in mice.

Extracts obtained from two Burkinabe folk medicine plants, spiny amaranth (Amaranthus spinosus L., Amaranthaceae) and erect spiderling (Boerhaavia erecta L., Nyctagynaceae) were screened for antimalarial properties with the aim of testing the validity of their traditional uses. The plant extracts showed significant antimalarial activities in the 4-day suppressive antimalarial assay in mice inoculated with red blood cells parasitized with Plasmodium berghei berghei. We obtained values for ED(50) of 789 and 564 mg/kg for Amaranthus spinosus and Boerhaavia erecta extracts, respectively. Moreover the tested vegetal material showed only low toxicity (1,450 and 2,150 mg/kg as LD(50) for Amaranthus spinosus and Boerhaavia erecta, respectively).