title: Evaluation of the combination of Uvaria chamae (P. Beauv.) and amodiaquine in murine malaria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The leaf and fruit of Uvaria chamae P. Beauv (Annonaceae) are used in antimalarial ethnomedical preparations. Therefore, they were investigated for antimalarial activities as well as possible herb-drug interaction with amodiaquine (AQ).
  
  
  METHODS
  The methanol extracts of the leaf (UCL) and fruit (UCF) were administered orally at 100-800mg/kg/day in mice infected with chloroquine (CQ)-sensitive Plasmodium berghei NK65 using the four-day, curative and prophylactic antimalarial test models. The UCL was further evaluated at 100-800mg/kg as twice-daily doses and combinations of UCL+AQ using the four-day test. Mice infected with CQ-resistant P. berghei ANKA were treated with UCL at 400mg/kg and AQ at 10mg/kg - [UCL400+AQ10]mg/kg - in the four-day and curative test models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At 800mg/kg/day, UCL, UCF gave chemosuppression of 42, 28% (four-day test), parasite clearance of 36.3, 49.5% on day 5 (curative test) and 64.3, 82.6% (prophylactic test), respectively. The twice-daily dose of UCL at 800mg/kg showed activity of 51.50% while the combination of [UCL200+AQ5]mg/kg exhibited chemosuppression of 91.66%, which was not significantly different (p>0.05) from AQ at 10mg/kg (85.41%). In the CQ-resistant P. berghei experiment, the combination gave a chemosuppression of 45.80%, significantly lower (p<0.05) than AQ (78.40%) while the parasite clearance was not significantly different from AQ (curative test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The leaf extract showed moderate chemosuppressive activity. The lower-dose combination of the leaf extract and amodiaquine had better antimalarial activity in CQ-sensitive murine malaria. However, the tested combination had no beneficial antimalarial effect in CQ-resistant murine malaria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Electronic address: dadepiti@oauife.edu.ng.
authors.forename: Awodayo O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Adepiti
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Ezekiel O
authors.initials: EO
authors.lastname: Iwalewa
mesh_terms: D000655:Amodiaquine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000494:pharmacology; D041743:Herb-Drug Interactions; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy; D051379:Mice; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010962:Plasmodium berghei / Q000187:drug effects; D031046:Uvaria
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D028321:Plant Preparations; D000655:Amodiaquine
keywords: Amodiaquine; Herb-drug interaction; Malaria chemosuppression; Parasite clearance; Plasmodium berghei; Uvaria chamae