A Study on the Effect of Zingiber Officinale Hydroalcoholic Extract on Plasmodium berghei in Infected Mice: An Experimental Study

Considering the resistance of the Plasmodium parasite (the causative agent of Malaria) to antimalarial drugs, it is essential to find an alternative medicine for treating patients. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the antimalarial effect of Zingiber Officinale hydroalcoholic extract on mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. In this experimental study, a number of 40 mice were infected with Plasmodium berghei and treated with different concentrations of the hydro-alcoholic extract of ginger plant (50, 100, 150, 200, 250 mg/ml) for four consecutive days. Toxicity testing was performed on liver and kidneys (hepatic and renal tissues) of mice. Finally, Data were statistically analyzed using the paired t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of this study showed that the hydro-alcoholic extract of ginger at a therapeutic dose of 250 mg/kg, had a suppressive effect (62%) on the growth of parasite in the mice, which was significantly different from the control group (p<0.05). The highest survival rate in the mice was at a concentration of 250 mg/kg with an average of 24± 2 days, which was significantly different from the other treatment groups (p<0.05). Comparing liver and kidney of mice with the negative control group showed that the extract had no toxicity for these organs (p=0.071). Considering the treatment effect (62%) of Ginger plant on the mice infected with Plasmodium berghei, further researches on the use of this plant in the treatment of malaria parasite with increasing the therapeutic dosage of the drug or preparation of various chloroformic and water extracts of the plant is recommended.