Sandamalie Ranasinghe, Anthony Armson, Alan J Lymbery, Alireza Zahedi, Amanda Ash
{"title":"Medicinal plants as a source of antiparasitics: an overview of experimental studies.","authors":"Sandamalie Ranasinghe, Anthony Armson, Alan J Lymbery, Alireza Zahedi, Amanda Ash","doi":"10.1080/20477724.2023.2179454","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite advances in modern human and veterinary medicine, gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infections remain a significant health issue worldwide, mainly in developing countries. Increasing evidence of the multi-drug resistance of these parasites and the side effects of currently available synthetic drugs have led to increased research on alternative medicines to treat parasitic infections. The exploration of potential botanical antiparasitics, which are inexpensive and abundant, may be a promising alternative in this context. This study summarizes the <i>in vitro</i>/<i>in vivo</i> antiparasitic efficacy of different medicinal plants and their components against GI parasites. Published literature from 1990-2020 was retrieved from Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus. A total of 68 plant species belonging to 32 families have been evaluated as antiparasitic agents against GI parasites worldwide. The majority of studies (70%) were conducted <i>in vitro</i>. Most plants were from the Fabaceae family (53%, <i>n</i> = 18). Methanol (37%, <i>n</i> = 35) was the most used solvent. Leaf (22%, <i>n</i> = 16) was the most used plant part, followed by seed and rhizome (each 12%, <i>n</i> = 9). These studies suggest that herbal medicines hold a great scope for new drug discoveries against parasitic diseases and that the derivatives of these plants are useful structures for drug synthesis and bioactivity optimization.</p>","PeriodicalId":19850,"journal":{"name":"Pathogens and Global Health","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":4.9000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10392325/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Pathogens and Global Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/20477724.2023.2179454","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/2/20 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PARASITOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Despite advances in modern human and veterinary medicine, gastrointestinal (GI) parasitic infections remain a significant health issue worldwide, mainly in developing countries. Increasing evidence of the multi-drug resistance of these parasites and the side effects of currently available synthetic drugs have led to increased research on alternative medicines to treat parasitic infections. The exploration of potential botanical antiparasitics, which are inexpensive and abundant, may be a promising alternative in this context. This study summarizes the in vitro/in vivo antiparasitic efficacy of different medicinal plants and their components against GI parasites. Published literature from 1990-2020 was retrieved from Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus. A total of 68 plant species belonging to 32 families have been evaluated as antiparasitic agents against GI parasites worldwide. The majority of studies (70%) were conducted in vitro. Most plants were from the Fabaceae family (53%, n = 18). Methanol (37%, n = 35) was the most used solvent. Leaf (22%, n = 16) was the most used plant part, followed by seed and rhizome (each 12%, n = 9). These studies suggest that herbal medicines hold a great scope for new drug discoveries against parasitic diseases and that the derivatives of these plants are useful structures for drug synthesis and bioactivity optimization.
期刊介绍:
Pathogens and Global Health is a journal of infectious disease and public health that focuses on the translation of molecular, immunological, genomics and epidemiological knowledge into control measures for global health threat. The journal publishes original innovative research papers, reviews articles and interviews policy makers and opinion leaders on health subjects of international relevance. It provides a forum for scientific, ethical and political discussion of new innovative solutions for controlling and eradicating infectious diseases, with particular emphasis on those diseases affecting the poorest regions of the world.