Antimalarial Properties of Aqueous Crude Extracts of Gynostemma pentaphyllum and Moringa oleifera Leaves in Combination with Artesunate in Plasmodium berghei-Infected Mice

Due to the emergence and spread of malaria parasite with resistance to antimalarial drugs, discovery and development of new, safe, and affordable antimalarial are urgently needed. In this respect, medicinal plant extracts are targets to optimize antimalarial actions and restore efficacy of standard antimalarial drugs. The present study was aimed at determining the antimalarial activities of Gynostemma pentaphyllum and Moringa oleifera leaf extracts in combination with artesunate against Plasmodium berghei-infected mice. P. berghei ANKA maintained by serial passage in ICR mice were used based on intraperitoneal injection of 1 x 10(7) parasitized erythrocytes and subsequent development of parasitemia. These infected mice were used to investigate the antimalarial activity of artesunate (6 mg/kg) in combination with 500, 1,000, and 2,000 mg/kg of G. pentaphyllum and M. oleifera leaf extracts using 4-day suppressive test. It was found that these extracts showed significant (P < 0.05) antimalarial activity in dose-dependent manner with percentage of suppression of 45, 50, and 55% for G. pentaphyllum leaf extract and 35, 40, and 50% for M. oleifera leaf extract. Additionally, artesunate combined with these extracts presented higher antimalarial activity, compared to extract treated alone with percentage of suppression of 78, 91, and 96% for G. pentaphyllum leaf extract and 73, 82, and 91% for M. oleifera leaf extract. The results indicated that combination treatment of G. pentaphyllum or M. oleifera leaf extracts with artesunate was able to increase the antimalarial activity by using low dose of artesunate. Hence, these results justified the combination of these extracts and artesunate in antimalarial herbal remedies.