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Antimalarial activity of Virgin Coconut Oil against Plasmodium berghei ANKA in mice

Malaria remains a health problem in various parts of the world. A decrease in antioxidant levels during malaria infection cause oxidative stress, therefore exogenous antioxidant is needed. Virgin Coconut Oil (VCO) can be a source of exogenous antioxidants due to the antioxidant activity of VCO, which was contributed majority by phenolic acids content. Antioxidants play a role in countering the effects of free radicals by inhibiting fat peroxidation that cause erythrocyte cell wall stronger and not easily ruptured. Pharmacological properties of VCO including anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, antiviral, and antiprotozoal properties have been reported. Therefore, this study aimed to find out the antimalarial activity of VCO by evaluating the parasitemia and percentage of inhibition to the growth of parasite. Thirty male BALB/c mice were infected intraperitonially with 1×106 Plasmodium berghei ANKA-infected erythrocytes. The mice were than randomly divided into five groups: positive control (PC) group was given 187.2m g/kg BW of dihydroartemisinin phosphate, negative control (NC) group was only given sterile water; G1, G2, and G3 groups were given 1 ml, 5 ml, and 10 ml/kg BW of VCO, respectively. VCO treatments were given for 4 consecutive days started from 24 hours post infection. Parasitemia was determined daily on Giemsa-stained tail blood smear, further the percentage inhibition was calculated. The results showed that parasitemia in VCO-treated mice were lower than that of NC group, but higher than that of PC group, indicated the antimalarial activity of VCO. The inhibition of VCO to the growth of parasite showed that G2 was higher (48.70%) than that of G1 (13.04%) and G3 (33.9%). The use of antioxidant therapy as a supportive therapy is one of alternatives in supporting the healing process of malaria patients and may reduce various risks that could potentially occur in patients.