3.3. C. citratus whole plant treatment exhibits antimalarial activity against patent infection with the lethal P. berghei ANKA strain
Parasitaemia began to increase on day 6 P.I. and reached a peak (36%) on day 10 in the control group. Thereafter, all of the mice in this group died (Fig. 2a). Surprisingly, the group treated with the low dose of C. citratus exhibited a lower rates of parasitaemia than that treated with the high dose, and the group treated with the combination of C. citratus and CLQ developed parasitaemia at a significantly lower rate than that treated with CLQ alone from day 8–10 P.I. (Fig. 2a). However, lower antimalarial activity was observed following treatment with C. citratus alone (low dose and high doses) compared with that following treatment including CLQ among the groups. With regard to temperature, the group treated with the combination of C. citratus and CLQ maintained a relatively stable body temperature, whereas that treated with CLQ alone exhibited temperature fluctuations (Fig. 2b). The groups treated with the low and high doses of C. citratus exhibited lower temperatures and Hb concentrations than the group treated with CLQ alone (Figs. 2b and c). Further, the high-dose of C. citratus treatment induced body weight loss, particularly on days 8 and 9 P.I. However, the group treated with both low-dose C. citratus and CLQ presented with an earlier decrease in parasitaemia and more stable temperatures, Hb concentrations and body weights compared with that treated with CLQ alone (Figs. 2b, c and d).