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

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.