European Journal of Medicinal Plants

Aim: Antiplasmodial potential of traditional medicinal plant Thlaspi arvense against Plasmodium falciparum in vitro has been evaluated. Cytotoxicity of plant extract against HeLa cell lines and normal fibroblasts has also been observed.

Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India, between May 2013 to April 2014.

Materials and Methods: Ethanolic whole plant extract of Thlaspi arvense (EWETA) was analyzed for its phytochemical constituents. In vitro cytotoxicity was determined colorimetrically by MTT assay. WHO protocol, based on assessment of schizont maturation inhibition, was employed for the evaluation of in vitro antiplasmodial activity of plant extract.

Results: Phytochemical screening of EWETA revealed the presence of diterpenes, triterpenes, steroids, anthraquinones and phytosterols. EWETA was observed to inhibit schizont maturation of both chloroquine-sensitive (MRC-2) and resistant (RKL-9) strains of P. falciparum with IC50<5µg/ml and =5µg/ml respectively. The extract was revealed to be safe against both HeLa cells and normal fibroblasts with CC50>1000µg/ml. Selectivity index for Thlaspi arvense was calculated to be >200 and =200 both for chloroquine-sensitive and chloroquine-resistant strains of P. falciparum with both HeLa and normal fibroblasts.

Conclusion: Plant extract possesses considerable in vitro antimalarial activity with high selectivity index (SI>10) pointing field pennycress to be an active antimalarial. Hence, present study provides scientific evidence for traditional usage of the plant as an antipyretic agent.