In-vitro Antimalarial and Antileishmanial Studies of Markhamia platycalyx Sprague Leaves

Bignoniaceae is rich in active metabolites and includes numerous genera of high economic and therapeutic values. One of these plants is Markhamia platycalyx. The petroleum ether fraction of the total ethanol leaf extract of M. platycalyx exhibited IC50 26760 ng/mL against Plasmodium falciparum D6 and 22430 ng/mL against P. falciparum W2 in the 2nd phase assay. It did not show any cytotoxic activity against the VERO mammalian cells, indicating the safety of the petroleum ether fraction. Additionally, the dichloromethane fraction of the same extract was the most active fraction against Leishmania donovani amastigotes in THP1 with 86% inhibition in the 1ry phase assay, which was higher than Amphotericin B.