Analysis, characterization and malaria parasitaemia suppression potential of bioactive compounds from aqueous extracts of a medicinal plant used for the traditional treatment of malaria in African countries

The properties exhibited by a plant, including the medicinal ones, is attributed to the type and nature of the bioactive compounds that are present in the plant. Thus the study of such bioactive compounds is very key in any medicinal studies of the plant. This study was carried out to analyze, characterize and evaluate the malaria parasitaemia suppression potential of the bioactive compounds of aqueous leaf, stem bark and root extracts of Alstonia boonei, a pan African medicinal plant, and position it for potential new antimalarial drug development. The extracts were subjected to Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometer analysis in order to determine their most active bioactive compounds. The most active bioactive compounds present in the extracts include 1,3,5-Triazine, 2-methylamino-4,6-bis(nonafluoro-tert-butyl) a methoxymethylbutyl class compound from aqueous leaf extract of A. boonei, androsta--2,4,16-triene-3,6,17-triol, tri-TMS a lactone class compound from aqueous stem bark extract of A. boonei , 1-Oxo-forskolin a diterpenoid compound from aqueous root extract of A. boonei, respectively. These bioactive compounds were subjected to antimalarial tests in order to evaluate their antimalarial activity in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. The tested bioactive compounds were found to exhibit significant dose – depent antimalarial activity as they suppressed the malaria parasitaemia in the treated infected mice. The results from this study revealed that the plant contains important medicinal bioactive compounds with significant antimalarial activity and should be further studied for the development of new drugs for the treatment of the increasing resistant malaria infection.