Toma Alemayehu, Deyno Serawit, Fikru Abrham, Eyado Amalework, Beale Andrew
Pharmacology Unit, School of Medicine, Hawassa University, PO Box 1560, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
Biomedical team, School of Veterinary Medicine, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
Malar J. 2015 May 10;14:196. doi: 10.1186/s12936-015-0716-1.
Medicinal plants have contributed significantly to current malaria treatment. Emergence of resistance to currently available drugs has necessitated the search for new plant-based anti-malarial agents and several plant-based, pharmacologically active anti-malarial compounds have been isolated. This study was conducted to validate the traditional usage of Echinops kebericho for treating malaria in the traditional health care system of Ethiopia.
The roots of E. kebericho were collected from Masha Woreda, Sheka Zone. After collection, the plant materials were identified by a taxonomist, dried under shade and crushed to powder for extraction. The powdered roots were extracted by maceration using 70 % ethanol. Acute toxicity study of the crude extract was carried out in Swiss albino mice. The in vivo anti-malarial activity of plant extract (200, 350 and 500 mg/kg) of E. kebericho roots against a chloroquine (CQ) sensitive strain of Plasmodium berghei strain ANKA was assessed using the four-day suppressive test procedure. Parameters such as parasitaemia, packed cell volume, body weight and survival time were then determined using standard tests.
Oral administration of the ethanol extract showed significant (P<0.001) parasitaemia suppression at dose levels of 350 and 500 mg/kg in dose-related manner compared with the negative control. Five hundred mg/kg showed the highest (57.29±1.76 %) parasitaemia suppression. The survival times of P. berghei-infected mice were also increased in a dose-dependent manner but the test material did not prevent weight loss associated with increased parasitaemia. The result also showed the plant material prevented the loss in packed cell volume associated with increased parasitaemia. Its oral LD50 was found to be greater than 5,000 mg/kg, indicating its wider safety margin in mice.
The result revealed the ethanol extract of E. kebericho roots has anti-malarial activity against P. berghei in an animal model and lends support to the use of the plant to combat malaria in Ethiopian folk medicine. Further work is necessary to isolate, identify and characterize the active principles from the plant material.
药用植物对当前疟疾治疗做出了重大贡献。对现有药物产生耐药性，使得有必要寻找新的植物源抗疟药物，并且已经分离出了几种具有药理活性的植物源抗疟化合物。本研究旨在验证埃塞俄比亚传统医疗体系中刺苞菜蓟治疗疟疾的传统用法。
刺苞菜蓟的根采自谢卡地区马沙县。采集后，植物材料由分类学家鉴定，在阴凉处干燥并粉碎成粉末用于提取。将粉末状的根用70%乙醇浸渍提取。对粗提物进行了瑞士白化小鼠急性毒性研究。采用四天抑制试验程序，评估刺苞菜蓟根的植物提取物（200、350和500mg/kg）对伯氏疟原虫ANKA氯喹敏感株的体内抗疟活性。然后使用标准试验测定诸如寄生虫血症、红细胞压积、体重和存活时间等参数。
与阴性对照相比，口服乙醇提取物在350和500mg/kg剂量水平时以剂量相关方式显示出显著（P<0.001）的寄生虫血症抑制作用。500mg/kg显示出最高（57.29±1.76%）的寄生虫血症抑制率。感染伯氏疟原虫的小鼠的存活时间也呈剂量依赖性增加，但受试材料并未阻止与寄生虫血症增加相关的体重减轻。结果还表明，该植物材料可防止与寄生虫血症增加相关的红细胞压积降低。其口服半数致死量大于5000mg/kg，表明其在小鼠中的安全范围较宽。
结果表明，刺苞菜蓟根的乙醇提取物在动物模型中对伯氏疟原虫具有抗疟活性，支持了该植物在埃塞俄比亚民间医学中用于对抗疟疾的用途。有必要进一步开展工作，从该植物材料中分离、鉴定和表征其活性成分。
