Evaluation of the anti-plasmodial effect of Pleurotus pulmonarius (Oyster mushroom) incorporated into cookies for potential adjuvant therapy in Nigeria

Malaria continues to pose a major global health burden, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium threaten current therapeutic efficacy. The search for novel, accessible antimalarial agents has highlighted the potential of medicinal mushrooms such as Pleurotus pulmonarius. This study evaluated the anti-plasmodial, hematological and biochemical, effects of Pleurotus pulmonarius-fortified cookies as potential adjuvant therapy against Plasmodium berghei infection in mice. Eighty male Swiss albino mice were divided into eight groups (n = 10) and treated with varying ratio of bread flour (BF) and mushroom flour (MF) cookies post-infection. Groups included a normal control, infected control, chloroquine-treated, and five treatment groups containing (20%–60%) MF. Key parameters assessed included parasitemia, hematological indices, liver and kidney function and histopathology. The 40BF:60MF group (Group 8) showed the highest parasitemia reduction among cookie-treated mice, with post-treatment parasitemia at 13.35% compared to 8.38% in the chloroquine group (Group 3) and 67.43% in the untreated group (Group 2) (p < 0.001). Hematological analysis revealed significantly elevated RBC (13.10 ± 0.23 × 10¹²/L) and hemoglobin (16.55 ± 0.26 g/dL) in the 80BF:20MF group (Group 4), while Group 8 showed favorable mean corpuscular volume (MCV: 56.08 ± 0.16 fL) and MCHC (53.04 ± 0.25 g/dL), indicating improved erythropoiesis. Platelet recovery was modest in mushroom-treated groups (Group 8: 54.39 ± 0.20 × 10⁹/L) compared to chloroquine (1068.37 ± 0.19 × 10⁹/L). These findings suggest Pleurotus pulmonarius may serve as a safe, nutritionally beneficial, and affordable nutraceutical adjunct in malaria management, meriting further clinical evaluation.