Screening and development of antimalarial and Antifilarial drugs of herbal origin through targetbased Drug Development Approach

Abstract

Background: Among vector-borne diseases malaria affects nearly half of the world's population, as estimated by the WHO in 2022, and the disease was responsible for over 249 million people in 85 countries. Another global vector-borne threat is lymphatic filariasis that affects 859 million people in 50 countries, causing long lasting and severe morbidity. However, currently, while antimalarial campaigns are facing the problem of drug resistance, antifilarial programmes are facing the problem of less effective macrofilaricidal activity of available drugs. This means that they do not completely eradicate the adult parasites, allowing them to continue to produce microfilariae. In view of these facts, the goal of the current research is to develop anti-malarial and macrofilaricidal drugs of plant origin. Aim and objectives: The Aim of the current study was to identify and investigate the antimalarial and macrofilaricidal activity of extracts of leaves of the plant Anacardium occidentale L., which has long been reported to have many biological activities.