Effects of lime juice on malaria parasite clearance

Abstract

One hundred and twenty children with acute uncomplicated malaria who were managed at the children's outpatient department of the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa (a unit of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals' Complex, Ile-Ife, Osun state, Nigeria) were recruited into the study to determine the effects of lime juice on malaria parasite clearance. These children were randomized into treatment with World Health Organization recommended antimalarials (artemisinin combination therapy, ACT) either alone or with lime juice. Nine of them were lost to follow-up, four were in the group that were managed with ACT and lime, and five in the group that were managed on ACT alone. The average (SD) time to achieve >75% reduction in parasite load was significantly lower in patients on ACT and lime; 30.5 ± 2.4 h against 38.6 ± 3.3 h for those on ACT alone (p < 0.001). Also, while a significantly higher proportion of children on antimalarial drugs and lime juice achieved complete parasite clearance by 72 h of therapy (p = 0.007), ten (18.2%) patients without lime had early treatment failure (p = 0.003). There were no side effects with the use of lime juice. It may therefore be inferred, from this preliminary work, that lime juice when used with the appropriate antimalarial may enhance malaria parasite clearance especially in those with uncomplicated malaria.