ANTIMALARIAL EFFICACY OF DATURA STRAMONIUM AGAINST CHLOROQUINE SENSITIVE PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM 3D7 STRAIN

P. V. V. Satish, D. Santha Kumari and K. Sunita*

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to evaluate the antiplasmodial activity of medicinal plant Datura stramonium against chloroquine (CQ)-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 strain and cytotoxicity against THP-1 cell line. The plant Datura stramonium was collected from Acharya Nagarjuna University Campus, Nagarjunanagar, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Crude extracts from dried leaves, stem and fruit of D. stramonium was prepared through soxhlet extraction using methanol, ethyl acetate and chloroform sequentially. These extracts were tested in vitro against laboratory adopted P. falciparum 3D7 strain. The crude extracts were also tested for their cytotoxicity against THP-1 cell line. The phytochemical screenings were also conducted with standard methods. The IC50 value of the methanol, ethyl acetate, and chloroform extracts of leaves, stem and fruit of D. stramonium showed a range (IC50 = 13.00 μg/mL - 34.08 μg/mL) of inhibitory concentrations against CQ-sensitive P. falciparum strain. The methanol extract of leaves (19.13 μg/mL), fruit (34.08 μg/mL); ethyl acetate extract of leaves (13.00 μg/mL), stem (26.67 μg/mL) and fruit (8.60 μg/mL); chloroform extract of leaves (25.60 μg/mL)showed good antimalarial activity and were significant at P < 0.05 and P < 0.001. Among these extracts, the ethyl acetate extract of fruit showed excellent antimalarial activity (IC50 = 8.60 μg/mL). The methanol extract of stem has shown inactive antimalarial activity with IC50 values >100 μg/mL. Moreover IC50 values of the chloroform extract of stem and fruit were not determinate because of their unclear inhibition.All the extracts were non-toxic to THP-1 cells. The phytochemical screening has revealed the presence of alkaloids, triterpenes, flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, carbohydrates, phenols, saponins, phlobatannins and steroids. It is concluded that the ethyl acetate extract of fruit of D. stramonium is potent for the development of antimalarial drugs.

Keywords: Datura stramonium, antiplasmodial activity, IC50, cytotoxic activity, selectivity index.