Botanical candidates from Saudi Arabian flora as potential therapeutics for Plasmodium infection

Abstract

Malaria is a lethal parasitic disease affecting over two hundred million people worldwide and kills almost half a million people per year. Until now, there is no curative treatment for this disease that has a substantial morbidity. The available chemotherapeutic agents are unable to completely control the infection with the continuous appearance of drug resistance. Consequently, the search for new therapeutic agents with high safety profiles and low side effects is of paramount importance. Several natural products have been investigated and proven to have antimalarial effects either in vivo or in vitro . A large number of plants have been studied globally for their antimalarial activities. However, studies that have been conducted in this field in Saudi Arabia are not enough. This article presents global and local research on the need for novel natural antimalarial agents with a particular emphasis on studies involving plants from Saudi Arabian flora.

Oral Therapy Using a Combination of Nanotized Antimalarials and Immunomodulatory Molecules Reduces Inflammation and Prevents Parasite Induced Pathology in the Brain and Spleen of P. berghei ANKA Infected C57BL/6 Mice

“…Malaria is presently controlled by using effective chemotherapeutic agents. Several trials using natural products and nanoparticles has been attempted to identify new molecules which can be effective against the disease ( 5 , 6 ). But the parasite develops resistance to the drugs that are used and therefore new therapeutic molecules which can be effective in combination therapy has to be identified and used ( 7 ).…”