Bioassay-guided fractionation and in vivo antiplasmodial effect of fractions of chloroform extract of Artemisia maciverae Linn

In the search for new plant-derived anti-malarial compounds, chromatographic fractions of chloroform extract of whole plants of Artemisia maciverae were tested in vivo using chloroquine resistant and chloroquine sensitive Plasmodium berghei NK 65 infected Swiss albino mice. One fraction and a sub-fraction of this were most active at 10/mg and cleared parasitemia in mice within 3 days. The different fractions and sub-fractions were tested with different reagents to determine the broad classes of compounds present. The active fraction tested positive for triterpenes and alkaloids, and the sub-fraction for only triterpenes. These tests suggest that the anti-malarial activities observed with these fractions may be due to these classes of compounds in the chloroform extract of the A. maciverae. Further chemical work is however required to characterize the active constituents.