Beta hematin inhibition: Evaluating the mechanism of action of some selected antimalarial plants

Abstract

There is paucity of information regarding the mechanism of action of medicinal plants with antimalarial activity. Thus, the mechanism of action of twenty antimalarial plants using the β-hematin inhibition assay was evaluated. Beta-hematin synthesis from bovine hemin in the presence of saturated acetate solution at a temperature of 60°C and pH 7.5 was initiated with a fixed concentration of 0.69 mg/ mL of chloroquine or methanol extracts of the selected plants. The fifty percent inhibitory concentration (IC50) of the six most active plant extracts/standard drug was determined using linear regression. Two of the plant extracts A. boonei and M. charantia (IC50 = 0.09 ± 0.03 and 0.11 ± 0.02 mg/mL), showed significant activity than chloroquine (0.36 ± 0.16 mg/ml. P<0.05) a potent β-hematin inhibitor. The β-haematin colorimetric assay is a reliable assay for determining the mechanism of action of medicinal plants that utilize the pathway.