Background Malaria still constitutes a major public health menace, especially in tropical and subtropical countries. Close to half a million people mainly children in Africa, die every year from the disease. With the rising resistance to frontline drugs (artemisinin-based combinations), there is a need to accelerate the discovery and development of newer anti-malarial drugs. A systematic review was conducted to identify the African medicinal plants with significant antiplasmodial and/or anti-malarial activity, toxicity, as wells as assessing the variation in their activity between study designs (in vitro and in vivo). Methods Key health-related databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, PubMed Central, and Science Direct were searched for relevant literature on the antiplasmodial and anti-malarial activities of African medicinal plants. Results In total, 200 research articles were identified, a majority of which were studies conducted in Nigeria. The selected research articles constituted 722 independent experiments evaluating 502 plant species. Of the 722 studies, 81.9%, 12.4%, and 5.5% were in vitro, in vivo, and combined in vitro and in vivo, respectively. The most frequently investigated plant species were Azadirachta indica, Zanthoxylum chalybeum, Picrilima nitida, and Nauclea latifolia meanwhile Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Annonaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Meliaceae, and Lamiaceae were the most frequently investigated plant families. Overall, 248 (34.3%), 241 (33.4%), and 233 (32.3%) of the studies reported very good, good, and moderate activity, respectively. Alchornea cordifolia, Flueggea virosa, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta, Zanthoxylum chalybeum, and Maytenus senegalensis gave consistently very good activity across the different studies. In all, only 31 (4.3%) of studies involved pure compounds and these had significantly (p = 0.044) higher antiplasmodial activity relative to crude extracts. Out of the 198 plant species tested for toxicity, 52 (26.3%) demonstrated some degree of toxicity, with toxicity most frequently reported with Azadirachta indica and Vernonia amygdalina. These species were equally the most frequently inactive plants reported. The leaves were the most frequently reported toxic part of plants used. Furthermore, toxicity was observed to decrease with increasing antiplasmodial activity. Conclusions Although there are many indigenous plants with considerable antiplasmodial and anti-malarial activity, the progress in the development of new anti-malarial drugs from African medicinal plants is still slothful, with only one clinical trial with Cochlospermum planchonii (Bixaceae) conducted to date. There is, therefore, the need to scale up anti-malarial drug discovery in the African region.
Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a significant zoonosis, and is endemic in some parts of the world including Iran. Hydatid cyst in Iran has been studied from different aspects and has been reported from most parts of the country. But there is no comprehensive report on the appearance of pollution in the country. This study was conducted to investigate the approximate status of infection from 1985 to 2019. In this review article, various reports on hydatid cysts were collected from 1985 to 2019. According to three criteria, i.e. the rate of infection of dogs with adult worms, the rate of infection of livestock, and the rate of infection of humans with hydatid cysts, the articles were summarized and presented to approximate the status of infection in Iran. In this study, the average infection among 11593 dogs was estimated to be 11.28%. In the case of livestock, according to this review, the maximum infection of sheep was in Ardebil with 74.4%, goats and cattle were in Sari with 37.8% and 40.1%, camels in Khorasan Razavi with 40.40%, and Tabriz had the highest amount of infection in buffaloes. Out of 70907 people tested, the summary of seroepidemiological studies shows that the average infection in humans is 5.57%. The information obtained from this review article shows that despite the efforts of health organizations and veterinary organizations, the rate of infection in Iran is still high compared to some countries.
Giardia lamblia is one of the most prevailing intestinal protozoa in many vertebrates like humans, domestic and wild animals. Molecular studies show that Giardia lamblia is a complex parasite. Currently, giardiasis disease is one of the main problems of social and personal health in different countries around the world. Giardia is known as a zoonotic parasite that is divided into eight genetic assemblages (A to H). In this review study, by referring to the molecular epidemiology of Giardia lamblia and emphasizing its zoonotic factors, the background of Giardia and its genotypes in Iran have been studied. The study population consisted of indexed articles in reputable databases such as Scopus, Magiran, SID, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Scholar in Iran from 1990 to 2020. Based on limited studies in Iran, assemblage BIII and AII are the most common types of Giardia assemblages. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct comprehensive studies on various human and animal isolates in different areas of the country, especially places where no researches have been done.
The available information for decision-making and adoption of appropriate policies to control paratuberculosis in most countries is based on published studies in developed countries. Therefore, the present study is aimed to review the situation of Johne’s disease (JD) in Iran, in a method to provide accurate information to implement effective programs to control the disease. This research is a systematic review based on valid databases inside and outside the country. The search was performed by keywords of Iran JD, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, buffaloes, milk, semen fluid, and a combination of them. Then, all articles that had necessary indexes were chosen. Unfortunately, despite the extended population of ruminants in the country and the higher infection rate of paratuberculosis in Iran in comparison with developed countries, the accepted strategies for the administration of paratuberculosis are voluntary and considered by ranchers. Basic control approaches are management modification, testing, culling, and vaccination, and implementation of these programs can be operative in control of the disease occurrence in Iran. Numerous mistakes in the design of studies limit the quality of evidence concerning the prevalence of paratuberculosis in the region.
Distemper virus is a Morbillivirus (in the family Paramyxoviridae) that can cause contagious disease in dogs. The virus affects the respiratory, digestive, and nervous systems after transmission. In this study, we reported a case of human infection and involvement with the Distemper virus. A 31-year-old man was diagnosed with clinical signs of Distemper in dogs. After serologic tests on saliva, blood samples were taken and RNA was extracted and cDNA synthesis was performed by PCR, and Sequencing was performed on the sample. The results of serological tests on individual saliva and PCR on cDNA from the whole blood sample of the patient and genetic sequencing revealed the results of rejection of viral interference in the tests and accuracy of Distemper virus detection. As the first cause of the disease was in humans. The results of this study revealed human infection and involvement with Distemper virus and the necessity of preventive measures such as specific vaccination against the Distemper virus in the wild and domestic animal community.
Dirofilariasis is a metazoonoses transmitted by certain mosquito genera (Culicidae: Diptera). Chiefly canids are the reservoirs of Dirofilaria spp. This article analyzed all published records and researches relevant to Dirofilaria in Iran, to provide a basis for future studies in Iran and around the world. All of the important data from human and animal cases that included the pathogen and its reservoir, dispersion, and retrospective studies were investigated and analyzed. Furthermore, the natural history of parasites, pathogenicity, diagnosis, treatment, control, and the final status of the disease in the world was briefly mentioned. Two species of the genus Dirofilaria, Dirofilaria immitis (canine heartworm) and Dirofilaria repens, are detected in Iran. Till now, 13 human cases have been formally reported including seven subcutaneous and three ocular cases of D. repens, a four cases of D. immitis, including a rare case in testicular hydrocele, one ocular and one pre-ocular, a subconjunctival and two pulmonary cases suspected to be D. immitis. Animal and human infections have been recorded in 11 provinces of Iran. Different investigators have reported D. immitis in dogs (with the frequency of 0.95–62.8%), jackals (2.5 57.4%), foxes (5.7–50%), wolves (20–50%), and cats (0.8%) and D. repens in dogs (1.4–60.8%) and jackals (10%) in different areas of the country. The reports on Dirofilaria in Iran are to some extent scattered as regarded to distribution and other features of the disease. More studies should be taken in dirofilariasis in Iran, specifically in regions from where there are no reports.
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