Hematological and Histopathological Profiles of Swiss Albino Mice Infected with Plasmodium berghei upon Treatment with Cooked Tetracarpidium conophorum Seed Ethanol Extract

Aim: This study was conducted to verify the hematological and histopathological outcome of cooked ethanol seed extract of Tetracarpidium conophorum in swiss albino mice infected with Plasmodium berghei (NK65).

Study Design: Descriptive study.

Methodology: Standard methods were conducted to determine the phyto-chemical profile of cooked T. conophorum seed ethanol extract, hematological, histopathological indices and biochemical assay. Mice were assembled into five groups (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) of seven each. The mice in group 4 were treated with a customary antimalarial drug (chloroquine as positive control) at a dose of 5 mg/kg body weight, while mice in groups 3, 2 and 1 was administered with increasing dosages (200, 400, 800 mg/kg body weight) of seed extracts for four consecutive days respectively.

Results: The qualitative phytochemical screening of T. conophorum seed extract revealed the presence of bioactive components such as saponin, tannins, flavonoid, terpenoid. Saponin (16.82 mg/100 g) was the highest occurring phytochemical followed by terpenoid (10.39 mg/100 g), glycoside (5.9 mg/100 g), tannin (2.8 mg/100 g) and flavonoid (1.17 mg/100 g), while steroid only had a trace presence. Hematological parameters revealed mice in all groups do not possess significantly different mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular volume (MCV). Mice in group 5 (infected and not treated) demonstrated lowest values of hemoglobin, platelet, and packed cell volume with a significantly lower % eosin. There was considerable decrease in the levels of alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase in group 5 compared to mice in groups 1, 2, and 3.

Conclusion: Ameliorative effects of seed extract were observed on the liver and kidney of mice at dose levels (200 mg/kg) used, but the 400 mg/kg restored the kidney but had adverse effect on the liver. This study therefore shows that cooked T. conophorum is generally less effective and could not be employed for treatment of malaria.