Abstract
Malaria remains a significant health burden, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, exacerbated by growing parasite drug resistance. Nanoparticles offer a promising strategy for effective antimalarial drug delivery, mitigating resistance, and reducing toxicity. This study investigated the antiplasmodial efficacy of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and iron nanoparticles (FeNPs) green-synthesized using Alstonia boonei and Terminalia catappa extracts against Plasmodium berghei in mice. Characterization confirmed nanoparticle formation: visual color changes, UV-Vis SPR peaks (295 nm for T. catappa AgNPs, (TCA) 435 nm for A. boonei AgNPs (AA), 270 nm for T. catappa FeNPs (TCF), 242 nm for A. boonei FeNPs (AF), FTIR identification of capping functional groups, and SEM-EDX elemental confirmation (Ag: 77.20% and 65.20%; Fe: 60.24% and 71.40%). Acute toxicity (LD(50)) tests showed high safety, with TCA, AA, and TCF exhibiting above 5000 mg/kg, while AF's LD(50) was 223.6 mg/kg. In curative assays, all nanoparticles demonstrated dose-dependent P. berghei inhibition, with AA 100 mg/kg achieving the highest at 75.6%. Prophylactic tests revealed impressive efficacy, with TCF 100 mg/kg showing 94.1% inhibition, and other nanoparticles above 87.0%. No significant difference (P > 0.05) in efficacy was observed among different nanoparticle dosages. These findings underscore the dose-dependent curative and prophylactic antiplasmodial activities of these green-synthesized nanoparticles, advocating for their further development as accessible antimalarial options.