Antiplasmodial activity and cytotoxicity of plant extracts from the Asteraceae and Rubiaceae families

Prapaporn Chaniad; Arisara Phuwajaroanpong; Tachpon Techarang; Parnpen Viriyavejakul; Arnon Chukaew; Chuchard Punsawad

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08848

Antiplasmodial activity and cytotoxicity of plant extracts from the Asteraceae and Rubiaceae families

Heliyon. 2022 Jan 31;8(1):e08848. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e08848. eCollection 2022 Jan.

Authors

Prapaporn Chaniad^{1

2}, Arisara Phuwajaroanpong^{1

2}, Tachpon Techarang^{1

2}, Parnpen Viriyavejakul³, Arnon Chukaew⁴, Chuchard Punsawad^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Science, School of Medicine, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand.
² Research Center in Tropical Pathobiology, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand.
³ Department of Tropical Pathology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
⁴ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Technology, Suratthani Rajabhat University, Surat Tani 84100, Thailand.

Abstract

The increasing resistance of parasites to antimalarial drugs and the limited number of effective drugs are the greatest challenges in the treatment of malaria. It is necessary to search for an alternative medicine for use as a new, more effective antimalarial drug. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the in vitro antimalarial activity and cytotoxicity of extracts from plants belonging to the Asteraceae and Rubiaceae families. The phytoconstituents of one hundred ten ethanolic and aqueous extracts from different parts of twenty-three plant species were analyzed. Evaluation of their antimalarial activities against the chloroquine (CQ)-resistant Plasmodium falciparum (K1) strain was carried out using the lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) assay, and their cytotoxicity in Vero cells was assessed using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric method. A total of 40.91% of the extracts were active antimalarial agents. Three extracts (2.73%) exhibited high antiplasmodial activity (IC₅₀ < 10 μg/ml), twenty-four extracts (21.82%) were moderately active with IC₅₀ values ranging from 10-50 μg/ml, and eighteen extracts (16.36%) were mildly active with IC₅₀ values ranging from 50-100 μg/ml. The ethanolic leaf extract of Mussaenda erythrophylla (Dona Trining; Rubiaceae) exhibited the highest activity against P. falciparum, with an IC₅₀ value of 3.73 μg/ml and a selectivity index (SI) of 30.74, followed by the ethanolic leaf extract of Mussaenda philippica Dona Luz x M. flava (Dona Marmalade; Rubiaceae) and the ethanolic leaf extract of Blumea balsamifera (Camphor Tree; Asteraceae), with IC₅₀ values of 5.94 and 9.66 μg/ml and SI values of 25.36 and >20.70, respectively. GC-MS analysis of these three plant species revealed the presence of various compounds, such as squalene, oleic acid amide, β-sitosterol, quinic acid, phytol, oleamide, α-amyrin, sakuranin, quercetin and pillion. In conclusion, the ethanolic leaf extract of M. erythrophylla, the leaf extract of M. philippica Dona Luz x M. flava and the leaf extract of B. balsamifera had strong antimalarial properties with minimal toxicity, indicating that compounds from these plant species have the potential to be developed into new antiplasmodial agents.

Keywords: Antiplasmodial activity; Asteraceae; Malaria; Mussaenda erythrophylla; Rubiaceae.