Antimalarial activity of Mitragyna ciliata (Aubrev and Pellegr) (Rubiaceae): Preliminary study

Mitragyna ciliata (Aubrev and Pellegr) (Rubiaceae) is a plant commonly used in traditional medicine in Côte d'Ivoire for the malaria treatment. This plant's extract was obtained by maceration of the powdered leaves in methanol. It was evaluated for its intrinsic antiplasmodial activity, its ability to synergise in vitro the effect of chloroquine against drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum FcM29 strain using isobologram analysis. The cytotoxic activity was estimated on HeLa cells and the ratio of cytotoxicity/antimalarial activity calculated. As results; the IC50 values for the antiplasmodial activity were ranged from 14 to 44 μg/ml depending on incubation duration, strains or isolates tested. The extract showed the reversal of chloroquine resistance in FcM29 strain. The mean cytotoxicity/antiplasmodial for this extract was determinated at 13.