Evaluation of anti-Plasmodium berghei activity of crude and column fractions of extracts from Withania somnifera

Different crude methanolic and chloroform extracts of Withania somnifera leaves, and column fractions of the methanolic extract, were tested in vivo for antimalarial activity on Swiss albino male mice. Each mouse in the study was infected intraperitoneally with 0.2 mL of blood containing 10^6–10^7 infected erythrocytes taken from mice previously infected with chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium berghei. The extracts were given to the infected mice intraperitoneally starting from 3 h following inoculation. Antimalarial activity was evaluated by taking blood smears on day 4. The results revealed that column fractions of methanolic extract obtained from leaves of Withania somnifera showed significantly improved suppression of parasitemia at lower doses compared to the crude extracts. Reduction of parasitemia by 44% and 57% was observed at doses of 200 and 300 mg/kg body weight, respectively, by column fractions of methanolic crude extract.