ABSTRACT. The inhibitory effects of 45 plant extracts selected from Central Kalimantan, Indonesia on Babesia gibsoni in vitro and their acute toxicity to mice were evaluated. Of these plant extracts studied, Arcangelisia flava, Curcuma zedoaria, Garcinia benthamiana, Lansium domesticum and Peronema canescens were found to have appreciable antibabesial activity with IC 50 values from 5.3 to 49.3 µg/ml without acute toxicity in mice at the intraperitoneal dose of 0.7 g/kg of body weight.KEY WORDS: antibabesial activity, Babesia gibsoni, Central Kalimantan plant, toxicity.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 66(7): 871-874, 2004 Canine babesiosis is a tick-borne disease of wild and domestic dogs caused by intraerythrocytic parasites, Babesia gibsoni and Babesia canis. The parasites are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide and cause hemolytic anemia of the affected dogs [2,5,22]. Diminazene aceturate (Ganazeg) is an aromatic diamidine used extensively for the treatment of B. gibsoni infection in affected areas of the world [5]. Although the medicine can reduce the severity of clinical signs and the mortality associated with the disease, it sometimes induces severe side effects such as weakness, irritability, paralysis, non-responsiveness to stimuli and fatal central nervous system haemorrhage [3]. Dogs that have recovered from the babesiosis also commonly become chronic carriers, thereby posing a source of infection for other dogs and ticks. Notably, production of this drug was recently stopped. Therefore, for the treatment of B. gibsoni infected dogs, an alternative chemotherapeutic agent having few side effects is urgently needed. One possible source of such affordable treatment lies in the use of plant extracts.Central Kalimantan, Indonesia is well known for its green tropical vegetation and peat swamp forests. Its diverse nature and uses are claimed to have medicinal properties. No data are available to assess the extent to which these plant extracts can be used for the treatment of B. gibsoni infected dogs. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the inhibitory effects of the Central Kalimantan plant extracts on the B. gibsoni in vitro and their acute toxicity to mice.Forty-five plants were collected from Central Kalimantan, Indonesia based on ethnopharmacological characteristics. These plants were identified at the Herbarium Bogoriense, Indonesia. Voucher specimens were deposited at the Department of Research and Development for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Bogor. Each plant sample (10 g) was boiled for 30 min in 200 ml of water twice. The boiling water was freeze-dried and then ground into powder.To evaluate the antibabesial activity, the powder of plant extracts was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and further diluted with RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with sodium pyruvate (0.1 mg/ml), glutamine (0.3 mg/ml), sodium bicarbonate (2 mg/ml), penicillin (100 units/ml) and streptomycin (100 µg/ml). The final DMSO concentration was not more than 0.1%. B. gibsoni used in this stu...