IOSR Journal Of Pharmacy And Biological Sciences (IOSR-JPBS) e-ISSN:2278-3008, p-ISSN:2319-7676. Volume 15, Issue 1 Ser. III (Jan –Feb 2020), PP 56-60 www.Iosrjournals.Org DOI: 10.9790/3008-1501035660 www.iosrjournals.org 56 | Page Antimalarial Effects of Menadione on Plasmodium falciparum FCR-3 Strains: In Vitro Study Fiyandi Afianda, 1 Hesti Lina Wiraswati 1,2* , Bachti Alisjahbana 3,4 , Nisa Fauziah 2,4 1 Oncology and Stem Cell Working Group, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung 2 Parasitology Division, Department of Basic Biomedical Science, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung 3 Departement of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung 4 Infection Study Center, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung *Corresponding Author: Hesti Lina Wiraswati Abstract: Background:Falciparum malaria is the most common type of malaria found in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. Today, Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ATC) is the main therapy as well as a strategy to fight chloroquine resistance. This drug against parasite infection through oxidative stress mechanism. However, resistance to this drug has been found in several regions in Southeast Asia. Therefore, research to find new drugs for malaria is very important. On the other hand, menadione is a quinone group that is able to trigger oxidative stress. Thus this study aims to determine the activity of menadione in inhibiting the development of Plasmodium falciparum cells in finding new malaria drug candidates. Materials and Methods: Menadione was tested on infected Red Blood Cells (RBC) with Plasmodium falciparum, in various concentrations. The analysis included microscopic observations to assess the reduction in the number of RBC using a hemocytometer, and the confluency of RBC as well as Plasmodium falciparum in culture. Results: The results showed that menadione can cause a decrease in the number of red blood cells due to Plasmodium falciparum infection by 82% at a concentration of 8μM. This result is also in line with the decrease in the number of Plasmodium falciparum in the culture medium after menadione treatment. Conclusion:Menadione showed inhibitory activity on the development of Plasmodium falciparum and maintain RBC from lysis. These results indicate that menadione has capacity as anti-malarial drug candidate. Key Word: Artemisinin; Malaria; Menadione; Plasmodium falciparum; Oxidative stress. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 05-02-2020 Date of Acceptance: 20-02-2020 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction According to the data of World Health Organization (WHO), there were 219 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2017. Malaria falsifarum caused by Plasmodium falciparum is the most common malaria in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. Annual Parasite Incidence (API) index-which shows the amount of malaria positive case per 1000 population-in the period of one year still has a high value especially in eastern Indonesia such as Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, and Maluku. Those regions have API of 50-100 in category of High Cumulative Incidence II. 1 Since the initial discovery of the disease, some therapeutic drugs have been used. Some of them are, quinine, the combination of dihydrofolate-reductase inhibitor, such as proguanil, chlorproguanil, pyrimethamine, trimethoprim, and combination drugs of sulfa or sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. Unfortunately, the resistance to these drugs has occured. 2–4 .Several of those drugs have been no longer widely used for malaria therapy. The artemisinin compounds or the combination of artemisinin with other compounds, further referred as ACT or Artemisinin Combination Therapyis a malaria therapy that is recommended by WHO until today. 5 Also, ACT has become the recommended drug for malaria treatment by Republic of Indonesia Ministry since 2004. 6 Artemisinin works against Plasmodium falciparumthrough induction mechanism of oxidative stress which will further inhibit the development and reduce the parasitemia of the parasite. The mechanism of oxidative stress makes artemisinin an antimalarial drug that can replace the previous one. 7,8 Unfortunately, the resistance proof towards artemisinin has been found in several regions such as Vietnam, Myanmar, and in the border regions of China and India with Myanmar as of July 2016. 2,5–7,9 Therefore, the research that proves the potency of antimalarial from other stress agents is indispensable. On the other hand, menadione is an oxidative stress agent that has been widely used in the discovery research of new drug candidate for all kinds of diseases. 8 Moreover, menadione has the ability to induce oxidative stress through different process with arteminisin. Arteminisin