Antiplasmodial Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Macaranga Gigantea Leaf and Its Major Constituent

Introduction: This research main goal is to study the antiplasmodial activity of Macaranga gigantea leaf ethanolic extract and its major components on malaria parasites using ex vivo model. Methods: This study was conducted by extraction of M. gigantea leaves using ethanol and isolation of its major constituent. The extract and isolate were tested ex vivo on Balb-C mice’s blood after i.p. administration of Plasmodium berghei strain ANKA. Antiplasmodial activity was observed from mice blood treated by various concentration of either extract or isolate and the parasitaemia percentage were determined by calculating infected blood cell after 24 h of the treatment. It is expressed as decreased of parasitaemia levels and percent of inhibition. Qualitative analysis of active fraction were tested by HPLC method. Chemical structure of isolate were characterized by using UV, IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and MS spectrophotometry. Results: Ex vivo antiplasmodial study gave the percent inhibition as much as 92.1; 85.7; 64.1; 41.5 and 21.7% at extract concentrations of 300, 100, 30, 10 and 3 μg/ mL respectively. The IC₅₀ values of the extract was 27.1 μg/ml. With respect to the percent of inhibition, at the same concentration, the isolate showed activity as much as 70.2; 62.5; 39.1; 21.7 and 10.8%. The IC₅₀ value of the isolate was 60.2 μg/ml. At the same concentration with extract and Isolate, Pyrimethamine as positive control gave percent inhibition of 94; 87.5; 44.8; 15.; and 12%, with IC₅₀ of 31.4 μg/ml. The results showed that major constituent of M. gigantea leaves is flavonoid. HPLC analysis using a photo diode-array detector showed that the active fraction have same retention time with that of apigenin as standard. Based on instrumental analysis data and compared with literature, a flavonoid derivate known as apigenin can be said has been isolated. Conclusion: It can be concluded that either M. gigantea leaves extract or isolated active constituent known as apigenin have potent antiplasmodial property.