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Comparison of SYBR Green I-, PicoGreen-, and [3H]-hypoxanthine-based assays for in vitro antimalarial screening of plants from Nigerian ethnomedicine

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Abstract

The standard method for in vitro antimalarial drug screening is based on the isotopic assay which is expensive and utilizes radioactive materials with limited availability, safety, and disposal problems in developing countries. The use of non-radioactive DNA stains SYBR Green I (SG) and PICO green® (PG) for antimalarial screening had been reported. However, the use of the two DNA stains for antimalarial screening of medicinal plants has not been compared. Thus, this study compared SG, PG with the [3H]-hypoxanthine (HP) incorporation assays for in vitro antimalarial screening of medicinal plants. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) values obtained using the three methods for antimalarial activity of medicinal plants and standard antimalarial drugs were similar. Data generated from this study suggests that the non-radioactive microflourimetric assay is sufficiently sensitive to reproducibly identify plant extracts with antimalarial activity from those lacking activity. The HP-based assay exhibited the most robust signal-to-noise ratio of 100, compared with signal-to-noise ratios of 7 for SG and 8 for PG. The SG-based assay is less expensive than the PG- and HP-based assays. SG appears to be a cost-effective alternative for antimalarial drug screening and a viable technique that may facilitate antimalarial drug discovery process especially in developing countries.

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Acknowledgements

This work received support from UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO special program for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (RCS plus ID A30710). Oyindamola Abiodun received a fellowship from Medicines for Malaria Venture, which allowed her to perform a 15-month pre-doctoral training at Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel. We are grateful to Prof. Matthias Hamburger and Dr. Michael Adams, Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology, University of Basel, for assistance in plant extraction.

Ethical Standards

The experiments in this manuscript complied with the current laws of Nigeria and Switzerland where they were performed.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Health Sciences, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, P.M.B. 4400, Oshogbo, Nigeria

    Oyindamola O. Abiodun

  2. Malaria Research Laboratories, Institute of Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

    Oyindamola O. Abiodun, Grace O. Gbotosho, Edith O. Ajaiyeoba, Christian T. Happi & Akin Sowunmi

  3. Parasite Chemotherapy Unit, Swiss Tropical Institute, Basel, Switzerland

    Sandra Hofer, Sergio Wittlin & Reto Brun

  4. Strategic and Discovery Research, Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland

    Ayoade M. J. Oduola

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  1. Oyindamola O. Abiodun
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  2. Grace O. Gbotosho
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  3. Edith O. Ajaiyeoba
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  4. Christian T. Happi
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  7. Akin Sowunmi
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  8. Reto Brun
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  9. Ayoade M. J. Oduola
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Correspondence to Oyindamola O. Abiodun.

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Abiodun, O.O., Gbotosho, G.O., Ajaiyeoba, E.O. et al. Comparison of SYBR Green I-, PicoGreen-, and [3H]-hypoxanthine-based assays for in vitro antimalarial screening of plants from Nigerian ethnomedicine. Parasitol Res 106, 933–939 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-1743-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-010-1743-z

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