Download PDF
Homeopathy 2006; 95(04): 223-228
DOI: 10.1016/j.homp.2006.06.003
Original Paper
Copyright © The Faculty of Homeopathy 2006

Effects of homeopathic medications Eupatorium perfoliatum and Arsenicum album on parasitemia of Plasmodium berghei-infected mice

G. Lira-Salazar
1   Especialización en Terapéutica Homeopática
,
E. Marines-Montiel
1   Especialización en Terapéutica Homeopática
,
J. Torres-Monzón
3   Departamento de Patología Experimental, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados of Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico
,
F. Hernández-Hernández
3   Departamento de Patología Experimental, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados of Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico
,
J.S. Salas-Benito
2   Programa Institucional de Biomedicina Molecular, Escuela Nacional de Medicina y Homeopatía of Instituto Politécnico Nacional
› Author Affiliations
Subject Editor:
Further Information

Publication History

Received04 October 2005
revised12 January 2006

accepted19 January 2006

Publication Date:
14 December 2017 (online)

    Permissions and Reprints

Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases in the world and a major public health problem because of emerging drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium. A number of synthetic and natural compounds are now being analysed to develop more effective antimalarial drugs. We investigated the effect of homeopathic preparations of Eupatorium perfoliatum and Arsenicum album on parasitemia using a rodent malaria model.

We found significant inhibitory effect on parasite multiplication with both medications with a level of 60% for Eupatorium perfoliatum at a 30 CH potency. Arsenicum album 0/6 gave 70% inhibition but this was less stable than Eupatorium perfoliatum. The number of schizonts was higher in animals treated with homeopathic medications. Although the mechanism of action is unknown, these agents would be good candidates as alternative or complementary medications in the treatment of malaria.

Keywords

Plasmodium berghei - Eupatorium perfoliatum - Arsenicum album - Balb/c mice - Homeopathic medications
 

  • References

  • 1 Breman J.G. The ears of the hippopotamus: manifestations, determinants, and estimates of the malaria burden. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2001; 64 (Suppl. 01) 1-11.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Ang K.K.H., Holmes M.J., Higa T., Hamann M.T., Kara U.A.K. In vivo antimalarial activity of the beta-carboline alkaloid manzamine A. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2000; 44: 1645-1649.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Darkin-Rattray S.J., Gurnett A.M., Myers R.W. et al. Apicidin: a novel antiprotozoal agent that inhibits parasite histone deacetylase. Proc Natl Acad Sci 1996; 93: 13143-13147.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Ridley R.G., Hofheinz W., Matile H. et al. 4-aminoquinoline analogs of chloroquine with shortened side chains retain activity against chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum . Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1996; 40: 1846-1854.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Vennerstrom J.L., Ager A.L., Andersen S.L. et al. Assessment of the antimalarial potential of tetraoxane WR 148999. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2000; 62: 573-578.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Delarue S., Girault S., Dali Ali F., Maes L., Grellier P., Sergheraert C. “One pot” synthesis and antimalarial activity of formamidine derivatives of 4-anilinoquinoline. Chem Pharm Bull 2001; 49: 933-937.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Vennerstrom J.L., Arbe-Barnes S., Brun R. et al. Identification of an antimalarial synthetic trioxolane drug development candidate. Nature 2004; 430: 900-904.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 de las Heras B., Slowing K., Benedi J. et al. Antiinflammatory and antioxidant activity of plants used in traditional medicine in Ecuador. J Ethnopharmacol 1998; 61: 161-166.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Clavin M.L., Gorzalczany S., Mino J. et al. Antinociceptive effect of some Argentine medicinal species of Eupatorium . Phytother Res 2000; 14: 275-277.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Muschietti L., Gorzalczany S., Ferraro G., Acevedo C., Martino V. Phenolic compounds with anti-inflammatory activity from Eupatorium buniifolium . Planta Med 2001; 67: 743-744.
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Mino J., Muschietti L., Ferraro G., Martino V., Acevedo C. Antinociceptive activity of Eupatorium buniifolium aqueous extract. Fitoterapia 2005; 76: 100-103.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Caceres A., Menendez H., Mendez E. et al. Antigonorrhoeal activity of plants used in Guatemala for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases. J Ethnopharmacol 1995; 48: 85-88.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 Urzua A., Caroli M., Vasquez L., Mendoza L., Wilkens M., Tojo E. Antimicrobial study of the resinous exudate and of diterpenoids isolated from Eupatorium salvia (Asteraceae). J Ethnopharmacol 1998; 62: 251-254.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Abad M.J., Bermejo P., Sanchez Palomino S., Chiriboga X., Carrasco L. Antiviral activity of some South American medicinal plants. Phytother Res 1999; 13: 142-146.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 15 Hnatyszyn O., Broussalis A., Herrera G. et al. Argentine plant extracts active against polymerase and ribonuclease H activities of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. Phytother Res 1999; 13: 206-209.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 16 Zanon S.M., Ceriatti F.S., Rovera M., Sabini L.J., Ramos B.A. Search for antiviral activity of certain medicinal plants from Cordoba, Argentina. Rev Latinoam Microbiol 1999; 41: 59-62.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 17 El-Seedi H.R., Ohara T., Sata N., Nishiyama S. Antimicrobial diterpenoids from Eupatorium glutinosum (Asteraceae). J Ethnopharmacol 2002; 81: 293-296.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 18 Gupta M., Mazumder U.K., Chaudhuri I. et al. Antimicrobial activity of Eupatorium ayapana . Fitoterapia 2002; 73: 168-170.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Garcia C.C., Talarico L., Almeida N., Colombres S., Duschatzky C., Damonte E.B. Virucidal activity of essential oils from aromatic plants of San Luis, Argentina. Phytother Res 2003; 17: 1073-1075.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 20 Navarro Garcia V.M., Gonzalez A., Fuentes M. et al. Antifungal activities of nine traditional Mexican medicinal plants. J Ethnopharmacol 2003; 87: 85-88.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Rios M.Y., Aguilar-Guadarrama A.B., Navarro V. Two new benzofuranes from Eupatorium aschenbornianum and their antimicrobial activity. Planta Med 2003; 69: 967-970.
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 22 Sasikumar J.M., Doss A.P., Doss A. Antibacterial activity of Eupatorium glandulosum leaves. Fitoterapia 2005; 76: 240-243.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 23 Blair S., Mesa J., Correa A., Carmona-Fonseca J., Granados H., Saez J. Antimalarial activity of neurolenin B and derivates of Eupatorium inulaefolium (Asteraceae). Pharmazie 2002; 57: 413-415.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Carvalho L.H., Brandao M.G., Santos-Filho D., Lopes J.L., Krettli A.U. Antimalarial activity of crude extracts from Brazilian plants studied in vivo in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice and in vitro against Plasmodium falciparum in culture. Braz J Med Biol Res 1991; 24: 1113-1123.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 25 Habtemariam S., Macpherson A.M. Cytotoxicity and antibacterial activity of ethanol extract from leaves of a herbal drug, boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum). Phytother Res 2000; 14: 575-577.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 26 Gassinger C.A., Wunstel G., Netter P. A controlled clinical trial for testing the efficacy of the homeopathic drug Eupatorium perfoliatum D2 in the treatment of common cold. Arzneimittelforschung 1981; 31: 732-736.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 27 Mendiola-Quezada R. Arsenicum album . in: Adalpe Barrera F. Farmacodinamia Homeopática. 1987. México: UNAM; 77-81.
    Google Scholar
  • 28 Tona L., Mesia K., Ngimbi N.P. et al. In vivo antimalarial activity of Cassia occidentalis, Morinda morindoides and Phyllanthus niruri . Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2001; 95: 47-57.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 29 Sandoval L.G. Farmacopea Homeopatica Mexicana. 3rd edn. New Delhi: B Jain Publishers; 1996. pp 18, 26–27, 32–33, 90, 188–189.
    Google Scholar
  • [30] Hahnemann S. Organon de la medicina. 7th ed. Mexico D.F.: Porrua Editorial; 2002. pp. 255–259.
    Google Scholar
  • 31 Su R.B., Wei X.L., Liu Y., Li J. Antimalarial effect of agmantine on Plasmodium berghei K173 strain. Acta Pharmacol Sin 2003; 24: 918-922.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 32 Fry J. One way analysis of variance. in: Fry J. Biological Data Analysis. A Practical Approach Series. 1996. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1-11.
    Google Scholar
  • 33 Hou L.J., Raju S., Abdullah M.S., Nor N.M., Ravichandran M. Rifampicin antagonizes the effect of chloroquine on chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium beghei in mice. Jpn J Infect Dis 2004; 57: 198-202.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 34 Franssen F.F.J., Smeijsters L.J.J.W., Berger I., Mendinilla Aldana B.E. In vivo and In vitro atiplasmodial activities of some plants traditionally used in Guatemala against malaria. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1997; 41: 1500-1503.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 35 Wagner H., Jurcic K. Immunologic studies of plant combination preparations. In vitro and in vivo studies on the stimulation of phagocytosis. Arzneimittelforschung 1991; 41: 1072-1076.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 36 Wagner H., Proksch A., Riess-Maurer I. et al. Immunostimulant action of polysaccharides (heteroglycans) from higher plants. Preliminary communication. Arzneimittelforschung 1984; 34: 659-661.
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 37 Perez H.A., De la Rosa M., Apitz R. In vivo activity of ajoene against rodent malaria. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1994; 38: 337-339.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 38 Bitonti A.J., Dumont J.A., Bush T.L. et al. Bis(benzyl)polyamine analogs inhibit the growth of chloroquine-resistant human malaria parasites (Plasmodium falciparum) in vitro and in combination with a-difluoromethylornithine cure murine malaria. Proc Natl Acad Sci 1989; 86: 651-655.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 39 Deharo E., Barkan D., Krugliak M., Golenser J., Ginsburg H. Potentiation of the antimalarial action of chloroquine in rodent malaria by drugs known to reduce cellular glutathione levels. Biochem Pharmacol 2003; 66: 809-817.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 40 Berberian D.A., Slighter R.G. Chemotherapeutic activity of combination doses of chloroquine, pyrimethamine, and sulfamethoxydiazine, a long-acting sulfanilamide, against Plasmodium berghei infections in mice. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1973; 3: 392-498.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 41 Wang J.Y., Cao W.C., Shan C.Q. et al. Naphthoquine phosphate and its combination with artemisinine. Acta Trop 2004; 89: 375-381.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar