Antiplasmodial Activity of Methanolic Extract of Asparagus officinalis L. Stem on Plasmodium berghei Infected Mice

Antiplasmodial Activity of Asparagus officinalis L.

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the antiplasmodial activity of methanolic extract of Asparagus
officinalis L. stem on Plasmodium berghei infected mice. To investigate this, the mice were infected with
P.berghei to cause malaria. The mice were simultaneously given oral doses (20, 40 and 60 mg/kg body
weight) of methanolic extract of A. officinalis L. stem. The phytochemical constituents of the extract
revealed the presence of alkaloids, phenolics, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, terpenoid and steroid. The
extract administered to the infected mice significantly suppressed the parasite. The extract also significantly
(P<0.05) reduced the activities of serum aspatate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphate (ALP),
alanine aminotransferase (ALT). White blood corpuscles (WBC), red blood corpuscles (RBC), hemoglobin
(HGB), packed cell volume (PCV), platelets (PLT) and the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration
(MCHC) showed significant (P<0.05) increase after the administration of the extract while mean corpuscular
volume (MCV) and the mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) showed significant (P<0.05) reduction.
Present findings suggests that the plant extract contains phytochemicals that have antiplasmodial and
hepatoprotective properties.