IJRPC 2013, 3(2) Okoro et al. ISSN: 2231 2781 326 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN PHARMACY AND CHEMISTRY Available online at www.ijrpc.com EVALUATION OF MURINE MODEL OF MALARIA USING ETHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACTS OF PRIDE OF BARBADOS (CAESALPINIA PULCHERRIMA) Okoro IA*, Ekundayo E, Omosun G and Ojimekukwe PC. Department of Chemistry, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, P. M. B. 7267, Umuahia Abia State Nigeria. INTRODUCTION Malaria is a parasitic infection transmitted by the bites of anopheles mosquitoes, infected with plasmodium species. There are two models of malaria- the murine model and human model. The murine model consists of plasmodium berghei. The human model consists of four species: namely plasmodium falciparium, plasmodium vivax, plasmodium malariae, and plasmodium ovale. In Nigeria, the human model is mostly caused by plasmodium falciparium and plasmodium malariae. The female anopheles mosquito transmits these parasites to humans. Malaria as a disease primary affects poor populations in the tropical and subtropical areas, where the temperature and rainfall are sufficient for the growth of the vectors and parasites (green wood et al, 2008). Malaria is a major global health problem. An estimated 247 million malaria cases were reported globally and nearly a million deaths annually (WHO 2008). Malaria is one of the major tropical parasitic diseases responsible for numerous morbidity and mortality among children, elderly and pregnant women (sudhanshu et al., 2003). In the south, eastern, and south-south parts of Nigeria, malaria parasites are transmitted all year round while in the northern part of Nigeria, it is mostly seasonal (Adebayo and Krettli 2011). Orthodox drug resistant malaria has become a major problem in the malaria treatment. Resistance in vivo has been reported against almost all anti-malaria drugs except artemisinni and its derivatives (Rucker and Campbell, 1992, sharima 1997). This malaria drug resistance problem is the major trust for a search for an alternative drugs and hence the search for remedies in medicinal plants available in the local environments (Miliken 1997). It is believed that if the herbs used to treat malaria by our forefathers in Africa centuries ago, were not effective, malaria would have destroyed the entire populations of Africa. (Idown et al. 2010). This is the basis for the in vivo screening of the leaves of pride of Barbados for its anti-malaria properties. This is the subject matter of this research work; the in vivo study of anti-malaria Research Article ABSTRACT The evaluation of in-vivo anti-malaria activity of ethanolic leaf extracts of pride of Barbados ( Caesalpinia Pulcherrima) was investigated using rodent malaria parasite-plasmodium berghei, and Swiss albino- mice as the experimental animal. The results showed that the extracts have 57% mean suppression action against the rodent malaria plasmodium berghei. This is indicative of the scientific evidence that ethanolic extracts of pride of Barbados ( Caesalpinia Pulcherr ima) posses moderate anti-malaria activity against a murine model of malaria. Keywor ds: Caesalpinia Pulcherrima, plasmodium berghei, Murine model of malaria.