The Story Behind the Paper: In vitro antimalarial activity of phytochemicals from Bombax costatum via inhibition of β-hematin formation

I and my long-time colleague and friend, Hassan Ali Bila, have been on this journey together for nearly a decade. We were course mates during our MSc at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, back in 2016, both specializing in Natural Product Chemistry. It was no coincidence that we found ourselves drawn to the same research area—malaria. Growing up in Nigeria, we have both seen the devastating toll this disease takes on families and communities. With Africa accounting for nearly 70% of global malaria cases, we knew this was where we wanted to make our contribution.

That shared passion became the foundation of our collaboration. Through our MSc and later our PhD programmes, we remained focused on discovering new antimalarial agents from medicinal plants. Bombax costatum caught our attention because of its long-standing ethnomedicinal use in Northern Nigeria for treating fever and malaria, coupled with its rich and underexplored phytochemical profile. The plant's root bark, in particular, was frequently mentioned by traditional healers, and this guided our decision to investigate it further.

Our earlier work had already established that the hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and butanol fractions of B. costatum exhibited significant in vivo antimalarial activity in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice. That was encouraging, but we wanted to go deeper. One evening, while discussing in the research lab, Hassan turned to me and said Dr G, "We know the fractions work in vivo which we established. But what is actually driving this activity? Why don't we isolate the pure compounds and find out exactly how they work at the molecular level?"

That conversation changed the direction of our work. We decided to isolate the bioactive constituents and investigate their mechanism of action using the β-hematin inhibition assay—a well-validated model that targets the heme detoxification pathway central to Plasmodium survival. The isolation and characterization of catechin, epicatechin, lupeol, and catechin-7-O-glucoside from the root bark was painstaking work, but seeing those compounds inhibit β-hematin formation in a dose-dependent manner was deeply rewarding. It was the first time these specific compounds had been isolated from this plant and evaluated through this mechanistic lens.

This paper is the fruit of that evening's discussion and the rigorous work that followed. It also reflects the strength of our collaborative network. Our co-authors, Dlama Stephen, Khadijah Isa Imam, and Amina Busola Olorukooba, brought invaluable expertise in pharmacology and parasitology, helping us interpret the biological relevance of our findings and strengthening the overall study.

Since we began this journey together, Hassan and I have authored and co-authored over 20 articles in the field of malaria drug discovery. Each one represents a small step forward, but this paper holds a special place—it is a testament to the power of curiosity, friendship, and the simple act of asking "why not?"

We hope our work contributes, even in a small way, to the global effort to develop effective, accessible, and plant-based antimalarial therapies for the communities that need them most.

Dauda Garba, PhD
University of Abuja, Nigeria