Phytochemical characterization and evaluation of antiplasmodial activity of extracts of Acanthospermum hispidum harvested in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Acanthospermum hispidum is a plant belonging the Asteraceae family. In traditional medicine, it is used to treat pathologies with symptoms similar to that of malaria. The present work is a phytochemical characterization and antiplasmodial activities evaluation of Acanthospermum hispidum leaves extracts obtained with hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanol. Antiplasmodial activity of the various extracts is evaluated on the Plasmodium falciparum strains 3D7, D10 and Dd2 according to the method described by Olivia Jansen et al. DCM extract of this plant showed good antiplasmodial activity on the D10 strain with an IC50 of 2.75 µg/mL and moderate antiplasmodial activity on the Dd2 strain with an IC50 of 7.82 µg/mL Phytochemical screening showed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins and tannins in most of extracts. The best contents of total phenolics, total flavonoids, total alkaloids and antioxidants are 155.79 mg GAE/g extract, 36.27 mg QE/g extract, 124.68 µg qE/g extract and 271.32 mg TE/g of extract respectively for the methanolic, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts. The major flavonoids of the DCM extract, characterized by HPLC-MS, were identified as 3,4', 5, 7tetrahydroxy-3',5'-dimethoxyflavone, myricetintrimethylether, 5-hydroxy-7,3',4',5'-tetramethoxyflavone 3-O-rhamnoside, Quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside and Kaempferol 3-O-glucoside. Dichloromethane extract of Acanthospermum hispidum is a potential source of bioactive molecules and could use as a substrate in the formulation of new antimalarial drugs.