BACKGROUND

Drug resistance in malaria is a recurring subject that threatens public health globally. There is an urgent need to seek new antimalarial agents. This study seeking new antimalarials from medicinal plants is guided by ethnobotany.

METHODS

Medicinal plants of the Luo and Kuria ethnic groups of Kenya with high usage reports were screened in vitro for their antiplasmodial activity using the SYBR Green I fluorescence assay (MSF assay).

RESULTS

The IC50's for drugs and total plant extracts ranged from 0.01217 to 10.679 mg/ml. Extracts were more active on chloroquine sensitive than resistant Plasmodium falciparum strains. Tylosema fassoglense, Ageratum conyzoides and Ocimum kilimandscharicum exhibited promising results. Plectranthus barbatus did not show activity.

CONCLUSIONS

Ethnobotanical knowledge was sufficiently reliable for identifying plant extracts with antiplasmodial activity.