EFFECTS OF MORINDA-LUCIDA LEAF EXTRACT ON TRYPANOSOMA BRUCEI BRUCEI INFECTION IN MICE

The dried leaves of Morinda lucida were extracted with 50% methanol and the extract was recovered in a 9.7% w/w yield. Acute toxicity tests were performed in mice and the intraperitoneal LD50 of the extract was 2000 mg kg. The extract induced purgation in mice from the first hour after oral administration and reached its peak between the third and fourth hour. The purgation was not dose-dependent. M. lucida leaf extract i.p. significantly suppressed the level of parasitemia after Trypanosoma brucei infection in mice. Suppression of existing parasitemia appeared dose-dependent with 1000 mg kg i.p. producing the maximum effect. The best trypanocidal activity was obtained when treatment with M. lucida extract commenced simultaneously with trypanosome inoculation. © 1990.