Safety assessment and antimalarial potential of chitosan-bound ethylacetate fraction of Cocos nucifera husk fiber in Plasmodium berghei infected mice

Abstract

Antimalarial activity of ethylacetate fraction of Cocos nucifera bound to a drug delivery carrier- chitosan or chitosan–alginate, was evaluated in this study. The dried pulverized husk fibre was exhaustively extracted with methanol and ethylacetate successively and was bound to chitosan or chitosan–alginate. A 4-day curative antimalarial test was carried out using Plasmodium berghei NK65-infected mice to which the ethylacetate extract fraction was administered at doses of 20 mg/kg (Sub-therapeutic dose) and 80 mg/kg body weight (BW) (Therapeutic dose), extract bound to chitosan at the sub-therapeutic dose (STD) and therapeutic dose (TD) as well as extract bound to chitosan–alginate hybrid at STD and TD. Safety assessment of the extract was also evaluated using selected hematological parameters and organ function indices. The extract reduced percentage parasitemia significantly (p<0.05), except for the groups treated with the sub-therapeutic dose alone. The ethylacetate fraction bound to chitosan-alginate hybrid showed higher reduction in percentage parasitemia, followed by the rats treated with the chitosan-bound extract at both the STD and TD as compared to other test groups. The results suggest that ethylacetate extract fraction of Cocos nucifera husk fibre has partial antimalarial activity at lower doses and can be enhanced by binding it to a suitable drug delivery carrier.