Blood Schizonticidal Activity of Phyllanthus amarus Enhances Testovarian Antioxidant Defense Capacity in Plasmodium berghei Infected Mice

Olukemi A. Opajobi¹, Theresa Ezedom¹*, Lilian E. Chris-Ozoko², Innocent Onyesom¹

¹Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria.

²Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. 

Corresponding Author: [email protected] ; Tel: +2348138904726

Recieved Date: January 30, 2018; Accepted Date: March 07, 2018; Published Date: 07 March 2018

Citation: Opajobi OA, Ezedom T, Chris-Ozoko LE, Onyesom I. Blood Schizonticidal Activity of Phyllanthus amarus Enhances Testovarian Antioxidant Defense Capacity in Plasmodium berghei Infected Mice. Trop J Nat Prod Res. 2018; 2(3):150-157.  https://doi.org//10.26538/tjnpr/v2i3.10

Copyright: © 2018 Opajobi et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ABSTRACT

In the present study, the crude ethanol leaf extract of Phyllanthus amarus was investigated for its in vivo activity against Plasmodium berghei malarial parasite in both early and established infections. The study also evaluated the changes in testicular and ovarian antioxidant defense capacity in P. berghei infected mice treated with the P. amarus leaf extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) using biomarkers (superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), reduced glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA)) and documental procedures. Results show increased (p < 0.05) ovarian levels of antioxidants (GSH, SOD, CAT and GPx) with insignificant change in MDA of P. berghei infected mice when compared with control suggesting good antioxidant capacity. Testes of the P. berghei infected mice, however, showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) in the levels of the antioxidant with an associated increase in MDA (p<0.05) amounts when compared with control values. These data indicate that the testes are more susceptible to oxidative stress than the ovaries during malarial infection. Blood schizonticidal activity of P. amarus exhibits repository actions against P. berghei parasites in a dose-dependent manner as Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 show established infection values of 0.0, 61.0 ± 8.0, 72.0 ± 6.0 and 87.0 ± 10, respectively. Also, P. amarus administration whether in the presence or absence of P. berghei infection significantly boosts antioxidant defense capacity and hence invigorated the testes and ovaries as indicated by the empirical data and histopathological evidence. The active phytochemicals, however, need to be identified for further study.