EVALUATION OF THE ANTIPLASMODIAL ACTIVITY OF TALINUM TRIANGULARE (TALINACEAE), A WEST AFRICAN FOOD PLANT

Obou Constantin Okou*, Konan Dominique Tano, Akissi Jeanne Koffi, Amoin Florence Koffi, William Yavo and Allico Joseph Djaman

ABSTRACT

Malaria remains a major public health problem in Côte d'Ivoire due to its morbidity, mortality and significant socio-economic consequences. The emergence and spread of strains resistant to current antimalarial drugs requires the diligent search for new active molecules; and medicinal plants represent a preferred alternative. The general objective of this work was to evaluate ex vivo, the antiplasmodial activity of aqueous and hydroethanolic extracts of Talinum triangulare leaves, a plant of the Talinaceae family on Plasmodium falciparum by chemo-sensitivity tests. Chemio-sensitivity tests were performed on clinical isolates of P. falciparum isolated from patients with simple malaria. The HRP2 colorimetric method (ELISA test) was used to determine the ex vivo sensitivity of P. falciparum to Talinum triangulare extracts. The results showed that all extracts have very good antimalarial activity with IC50s < 5 μg/mL. However, the hydroethanolic extract showed better activity than the aqueous extract with a median IC50 of 2.63 μg/mL. The Amodiaquine (reference molecule) used was sensitive on two clinical isolates and resistant on the other three. Phytochemical triage revealed the presence of secondary metabolites such as alkaloïds, sterols and polyterpenes. These results make Talinum triangulare a promising resource in the search for antimalarial molecules.

Keywords: P. falciparum, Talinum triangulare, antiplasmodium, ex vivo, chemo-sensitivity.