Abstract

The search for potent antimalarial agent has led to the synthesis of a novel hybrid molecule, cinnamic 3β-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-carboxylic anhydride (JH26). The structure was confirmed using 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The in vivo antimalarial evaluation of the compound JH26 in mice inoculated with the malaria parasite (Plasmodium berghei berghei) was studied after 5 days (D₅) of treatment. The results showed a dose dependent decrease in parasitamia at D₃₀ of 44.86 ± 1.0, 65.05 ± 4.0 and 79.33 ± 2.0% recorded on mice at 25, 50 and 100 mgkg^-1 body weight dosages, respectively, as compared to the curative rate obtained for artemisinin (97.04 ± 2.0%) and chloroquine (94.40 ± 1.0%), standard drugs used as positive control. 100% mortality was recorded for the parent nucleus oleanolic acid (JH16) at D₃₀ which indicates suppressive action rather than curative ability shown by 3β-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-cinnamic anhydride.

Key words: Oleanolic acid, cinnamic 3β-hydroxyolean-12-en-28-carboxylic anhydride, antiplasmodial activity, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.