Screening of Different Extracts from Artemisia Species for Their Potential Antimalarial Activity

Mojarrab, Mahdi; Naderi, Rozhin; Heshmati Afshar, Fariba

doi:10.22037/ijpr.2015.1653

Screening of Different Extracts from Artemisia Species for Their Potential Antimalarial Activity

Document Type : Research article

Authors

¹ Novel Drug Delivery Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, I.R.Iran.

² 1)Novel Drug Delivery Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, I.R.Iran. 2) Student Research Committee, Kermanshah University of Medical Science, Kermanshah, I.R.Iran

³ 3Department of Traditional Pharmacy, Faculty of Traditional Medicine; and Medicinal Philosophy and History Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, I.R. Iran

10.22037/ijpr.2015.1653

Abstract

The formation of hemozoin (malaria pigment) has been proposed as an ideal drug target for antimalarial screening programs. In this study, we used an improved, cost-effective and high-throughput spectrophotometric assay to screen plant extracts for finding novel antimalarial plant sources. Fifteen extracts with different polarity from three Iranian Artemisia species, A. ciniformis, A. biennis and A. turanica, were assessed for their antimalarial activity by in vitro β-hematin formation assay. The most potent effect was observed in dichloromethane (DCM) extract of A. ciniformis with IC50 and IC90 values of 0.92 ± 0.01 and 1.29 ± 0.02 mg/mL, respectively. Ethyl acetate (EtOAC) extracts of A. biennis and A. turanica also showed significant antimalarial activities with IC50 values of 1.11 ± 0.02 and 1.35 ± 0.08 mg/mL and IC90 values of 1.22 ± 0.04 and 2.81 ± 0.21 mg/mL, respectively. Based on these results, it is possible to conclude that the components with strong antimalarial activity have been concentrated in the medium-polar extracts.

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