In Vivo Antimalarial Effects of Iranian Flora Artemisia khorassanica against Plasmodium berghei and Pharmacochemistry of its Natural Components

• Main Authors: H Nahrevanian, B Kazemi, M Nazem, H Nazem, M Amini
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2010-03-01
• Series: Iranian Journal of Parasitology
• Subjects: Artemisia khorassanica; Iran; Malaria; Pharmacochemistry; Plasmodium berghei
• Online Access: https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/121
• ISSN: 1735-7020; 2008-238X

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimalarial effects of Iranian flora Artemisia khorassanica against Plasmodium berghei in vivo and pharmacochemistry of its natural components. Methods: The aerial parts of Iranian flora A. khorasanica were collected at flowering stage from Khorassan Province, northeastern Iran in 2008. They were air-dried at room temperature; powder was macerated in methanol and the extract defatted in refrigerator, filtered, diluted with water, then eluted with n-hexane and finally non-polar components were identified through Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS). Toxicity of herbal extracts was assessed on naïve NMRI mice, and its anti-malarial efficacy was investigated on infected Plasmodium berghei animals. This is the first ap­plication on A. khorssanica extract for treatment of murine malaria. The significance of differences was determined by Analysis of Variances (ANOVA) and Student's t-test using Graph Pad Prism Software. Results: The herbal extract was successfully tested in vivo for its anti-plasmodial activity through ar­temisin composition, which is widely used as a standard malaria treatment. Conclusion: Although, this study confirmed less anti-malarial effects of A. khorssanica against mur­ine malaria in vivo, how­ever there are some evidences on reducing pathophysiology by this medica­tion. In complementary assay, major components were detected by GC-MS analysis in herbal extract including chrysanthe­none (7.8%), palmitic acid (7.4%) and cis-thujone (5.8%).  The most retention indices of the compo­nent are given as n-eicosane, palmitic acid and n-octadecane.