What is it about?
Extracts of Polyalthia longifolia are traditionally used to treat malaria in Ghana. Some earlier studies have shown that the plant has antimalarial activity. We affirmed this activity of the plant and showed that it is a good drug candidate because it kills the malaria parasite without destroying the red blood cells of humans.
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Why is it important?
Drug resistance to malaria is a major challenge, therefore it is crucial to identify effective and safe alternatives to current malaria therapies. The study has shown that extracts of Polyalthia longifolia can destroy malaria parasites in humans without destroying red blood cells. Further work should be done to isolate the compounds responsible for the antimalarial activity for possible development as drug candidates.
Perspectives
Several researchers investigate antimalarial agents without assessing toxicity of the agents to red blood cells and other human cell lines. Since selectivity or therapeutic index is critical in drug discovery I hope other researcher will employ the colorimetric tetrazolium-based assay or other assays to assess the toxic effect of antimalarial agents on red blood cells.
Professor Regina Appiah-Opong
University of Ghana
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: In Vitro Assessment of Antiplasmodial Activity and Cytotoxicity of Polyalthia longifolia Leaf Extracts on Plasmodium falciparum Strain NF54, Malaria Research and Treatment, January 2019, Hindawi Publishing Corporation,
DOI: 10.1155/2019/6976298.
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