Investigations of the anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-malarial activities of extract from the leaf of Halea ciliata (Abura leaves)

Background: Halea ciliata (Abura leaves) is a medicinal plant and has long been used for the treatment of several diseases including malaria, pains and inflammation, However, no complete pharmacological study to confirm these effects have been reported. In this study, the anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antimalarial effects of Halea ciliata were investigated. Methods: The leaf of Halea ciliata was extracted with ethanol. The anti-inflammatory activity was tested using the egg albumin induced paw oedema while the analgesic activities were investigated using the hot-plate and Tail flick tests in mice. The anti-malaria activities were evaluated in Plasmodium berghei infected mice. Results: The crude methanol extract of Halea ciliata had LD50 greater than 5000 mg/kg and contains alkaloid, tannin, flavonoid, glycoside, steroid, terpenoid and saponin. In vivo analysis revealed that the crude extract demonstrated 78.64±4.32 % and 78.09±2.34% inhibition of the Plasmodium berghei parasite, while chloroquine, exhibited 92.12±3.45 % activities. The extract also significantly (p<0.05) suppressed the egg albumin induce paw oedema with percentage inhibition of 13.55±0.34, and 11.88±1.34 at 200 and 400 mg/kg respectively, while the standard drug caused 64.40±2.34 inhibition of paw oedema when compared to the non-treated controls. Similarly, the crude extract demonstrated significant analgesic activities in both the hot plate and tail-flick models. Conclusion: These results suggest that crude methanol extract of Halea ciliata has potent anti-malaria, anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive activities.