Evaluation of antimalarial and biochemical profiles of Abaleria® in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice

The rate of increasing resistance to most antimalarial drugs suggests a need for better alternatives. Hence, the present study evaluates the in vivo antimalarial and biochemical profiles of a locally formulated herbal antimalarial therapy, Abaleria® on mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. Eight groups of five mice each were used. The control groups include uninfected, infected with 1.0 × 10⁷ P. berghei parasites but not treated, infected, and treated 3 days after inoculation with 25 mg kg⁻¹ chloroquine diphosphate (CDP). Other groups were infected and treated with 50, 100, 200, 300, and 500 mg kg⁻¹/day of Abaleria® for 4 days. On the 5th day, blood smears were prepared and evaluated for parasitemia microscopically, and animals were thereafter sacrificed; serum obtained from blood samples collected through cardiac puncture was used for biochemical assays. There was a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in parasitemia at the highest dose of the drug which compared favorably with CDP. Infection led to elevated liver function indices while treatment with Abaleria® normalized these parameters; a dose dependent increase in HDL-cholesterol was detected in the groups treated with Abaleria® and CDP. The study shows that Abaleria® displayed a dose-dependent in vivo antiplasmodial and biochemical properties as well as improvement of lipid profiles of mice infected with P. berghei.