[Effect of Momordica charantia L. in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei]

According to the World Health Organization malaria is one of the major public health problems in Brazil and all over developing countries, where 80% of the population use traditional medicine to solve their primary medical problems. Both treatment and control of this parasitosis have become difficult, because of parasite strains that are resistant to conventional drugs, such as chloroquine. That makes the search for new antimalarial drugs not only important but urgent. We aimed therefore at evaluating the effects of Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae) in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. We used aquose and ethanotic extracts in a dose of 1000 mg/kg of body weight, orally, for five consecutive days (i.e. from day 2 to day 6 postinfection). We then followed up the parasitaemia during the course of infection. Although the population use this plant as an antimalarial, in our experimental conditions, M. charantia extracts have not shown such activity.