Experimental and Mathematical Model for the Antimalarial Activity of Methanolic Root Extract of Azadirachta indica (Dongoyaro) in Mice Infected with Plasmodium berghei NK65

Abstract

The study determines the experimental and mathematical model for the anti-plasmodial activity of methanolic root extract of Azadirachta indica in Swiss mice infected with Plasmodium berghei NK65. Phytochemical analyses, antimalarial activity of the methanolic root extract of A. indica was determined in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei NK65 using standard procedure. Liver biomarker enzymes were also determined. The model P. berghei induced free and P. berghei infected equilibrium were determined. The stability of the model equilibrium points was rigorously analyzed. The phytochemicals present in the extract include: alkaloid, flavonoid, saponin and phenolic compounds etc. The experimental study consists of five groups of five mice each per group. Group A, B, C, D and E were healthy, infected without treatment, infected mice treated with fansidar (10 mg/kg), chloroquine (10 mg/kg) and 250 mg/kg body weight of A. indica methanolic root extract respectively. The extract showed anti-plasmodial activity of 73.96%. The result was significant when compared with group B mice, though it was lower than that exhibited by fansidar (88.91%) and chloroquine (92.18%) for suppressive test. There were significant decrease (P<0.05) in plasma AST and ALT levels in the treated infected mice compared to the infected untreated mice. The results of the model showed that the P.berghei induced free equilibrium is locally and globally asymptotically stable at threshold parameter,  less than unity and unstable when  is greater than unity. Numerical simulations were carried out to validate the analytic results which are in agreement with the experimental analysis of this work.