Assessment of Suppressive Potential of Ethanolic Coconut (Cocos nucifera) Husk Extract in Plasmodium berghei Infection in Mice

Abstract Abstract Introduction : Malaria continues to be a deadly disease in sub-Saharan Africa, affecting children below five years and pregnant women the most. Because of the high level of resistance to conventional antimalarials, there is a need to explore alternative sources of treatment, medicinal plants. The antiplasmodial activity, hematological effects and safety profile of ethanolic extract of Cocos nucifera husk (ECHE) against Plasmodium berghei in mice was studied. Methods : Female mice were inoculated with P. berghei (NK65) by using healthy mice. Peter's 4 day suppressing test compares suppression of parasitemia with ECHE (100 mg/kg) versus suppression with chloroquine (5 mg/kg). Standardized methods were used for the phytochemical screening, haematological parameters, liver function parameters (AST, ALT). Result : ECHE demonstrated substantial antiplasmodial activity with 78.40% parasitemia suppression versus 90.04% for chloroquine. Phytochemical analysis confirmed that the plant extract contained a significant amount of saponins (282.14 ± 1.23 mg/g) and terpenoids (26.99 ± 0.14 mg/g) and moderate levels of phenols, tannins and flavonoids. Notably, ECHE showed better RBC protective effect with higher number of RBC (9.02 × 106/µL) than that of chloroquine (5.82 × 106/µL), which could be attributed to its antioxidant flavonoids and phenolics content. However, ECHE induced significant hepatotoxicity with elevated AST (220.10 ± 63.38 U/L) and ALT (116.27 ± 19.47 U/L). Immunologically, ECHE promoted elevated lymphocyte responses (48.50% ± 2.52%) and chloroquine elevated the neutrophil profiles (58.50% ± 1.50%) which showed differential immune modulation. Valorization of coconut husk waste with Nigeria discarding approximately 108,000 metric tons annually that presents significant therapeutic and economic opportunities. Conclusions : ECHE is highly effective in its antiplasmodial activity with significant erythroprotective effects and highly toxic to liver because of the presence of saponins. The results call for bioassay-guided fractionation of the plant material to isolate the therapeutic from the toxic components, thus opening the door to the possibility of this agricultural waste as a sustainable antimalarial therapeutic.