title: Traditional uses of medicinal plants against malarial disease by the tribal communities of Lesser Himalayas-Pakistan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malaria is among the most prevalent infectious diseases in the developing countries of world. Estimated number of annual malaria episodes in Pakistan is 1.5 million, but very little is known about medicinal plant species of Pakistan, which have great potential against malarial disease. Present study was aimed to document medicinal plant species used by the local inhabitants of Lesser Himalayas-Pakistan to treat malaria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected through interviews, questionnaires and contributor observation. A total of 55 informants aged between 25 and 80 years who were familiar with malarial disease participated in the survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 84 plant species belonging to 69 genera and 50 families were recorded to treat malaria. Asteraceae was found as most cited botanical family with (11.9%) representation, followed by Lamiaceae (5.9%), Solanaceae and Verbenaceae (4.7%) and Violaceae (3.5%) respectively. About 60% of the inhabitants prefer herbal treatment by local herbalists or self-treatment with locally available medicinal plant species. Of the plants identified during present investigation against malaria, Azadirachta indica, Swertia chirayita and Swertia ciliata exhibited uppermost frequency of encounter (36.3%) and corresponding PR value 5. About 67.2% of the botanical taxa are reported for the first time in the treatment of malaria. It was observed thatover harvesting is the foremost threat to medicinal plant species of the study area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Present survey indicates that traditional knowledge about the use of plant species against various diseases and particularly to treat malaria is in decline. Similarly anthropogenic pressure, over exploitation and grazing of the botanical taxa are the major concerns regarding medicinal plant biodiversity loss. Frequently utilized plant species with significant malarial reduction should be authenticated by in vitro and in vivo standard tests.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Hazara University, Mansehra 835215, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ghulam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mujtaba Shah
authors.affiliation: School of Light Industry and Food Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China; Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan. Electronic address: arshad799@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Arshad Mehmood
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Nadeem
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: School of Light Industry and Food Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.
authors.forename: Xinbo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Mir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ajab Khan
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Hazara University, Mansehra 835215, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Manzoor
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: District Headquarter Hospital, Abbottabad 22010, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sultan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bibi
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nazir
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad 22060, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Adnan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad Tahir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000962:Antimalarials / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000627:therapeutic use; D020834:Ethnopharmacology; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000962:Antimalarials; D028321:Plant Preparations
keywords: Ethnobotany; Lesser Himalayas; Malaria; Medicinal plants; Pakistan