Effects of Ethanolic Extract of <i>Hyptis Suavoelens</i> on the Food, Water Consumption and Weight of Laboratory Experimental Rats

Abstract

The need to identify medicinal plants that can be used in the treatment and control of malaria and other protozoal parasitic diseases is  underscored by the increasing resistance of Plasmodium(P.) species to hitherto widely used anti-malarial drugs such as chloroquine and more recently quinine. Resistance to these drugs which occurs with increasing frequency consequently underlies the necessity to develop  new agents for malaria chemotherapy, (family Labiatae) a plant traditionally used in the treatment of fever, as well as  related diseases and for repelling mosquitoes was screened for this purpose in the present study. The activities of the ethanolic extract of the leaves of this plant was  investigated against rodent , weight loss, feed and water consumption. A total of two hundred and fifteen animals, one hundred and fifteen Wistar rats and one hundred albino mice were used for the various aspect of the study. The LD50 of the extract was found to be 1264.91 + 0.51mg/kg (I.P) in mice and rats. Weight loss was observed in male and female rats to be significant (P < 0.05).

Keywords :Ethanolic  leave  extract,  Plasmodium species,  family    Labiatae,  Hyptissuaveolens and malaria  chemotherapy.