Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine (2019) 19:403–413 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13596-019-00361-5 RESEARCH ARTICLE The aqueous extract of Allium saralicum R.M. Fritsch efectively treat induced anemia: experimental study on Wistar rats Samaneh Goorani 1  · Nabi Shariatifar 2,3  · Niloofar Seydi 4  · Akram Zangeneh 4,5  · Rohallah Moradi 5  · Behzad Tari 4  · Farzaneh Nazari 6  · Mohammad Mahdi Zangeneh 4,5 Received: 3 September 2018 / Accepted: 10 January 2019 / Published online: 14 February 2019 © Institute of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University 2019 Abstract There are many medicinal plants in traditional medicine which are used to prevent, control, and treat anemia. One of these plants is Allium saralicum R.M. Fritsch. The purpose of our research was to investigate the efect of aqueous extract of A. saralicum leaf in the treatment of hemolytic anemia. In this study, 60 rats were used. Induction of hemolytic anemia was done by three injections of Phenylhydrazine in 50 animals. Then, the rats were divided into six subgroups, including nega- tive healthy control, untreated negative control, and four groups receiving the A. saralicum at 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg concentrations. At the end of day 15 of treatment, the animals of all groups were weight and then sacrifced. The blood, liver and spleen samples were drawn immediately to analyze the hematological, biochemical and histological parameters. All groups of A. saralicum (especially AS200) signifcantly (p ≤ 0.05) reduced the raised concentrations of Fe, ferritin, erythropoietin, ALP, AST, ALT, GGT, cholesterol, LDL, triglyceride, total and conjugated bilirubin, urea, and creatinine and increased the levels of body weight, HDL, total protein, albumin, WBC, lymphocyte, monocytes, platelet, RBC, Hb, PCV, MCV, MCH, and MCHC as compared to the untreated group. Also, A. saralicum at all doses prevented pathological changes in the liver and spleen. In conclusion, because of aqueous extract of A. saralicum leaf anti-anemic property, it can be used as a medical supplement or drug. Keywords Allium saralicum R.M. Fritsch · Aqueous extract · Anti-anemic · Phenylhydrazine Introduction Blood disorders are one of the most important systemic disorders that cause many deaths each year. Anemia is a common blood disorder in which there are no sufcient red blood cells or hemoglobin. One kind of anemia is hemo- lytic anemia. It is caused by hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells) (Qaseem et al. 2013). The common causes of hemolytic anemia are enlarged spleen, hepatitis, Epstein- Barr virus, typhoid fever, E. coli toxin, leukemia, lym- phoma, tumors, lupus and etc (Sato et al. 2012). The most usual symptoms of hemolytic anemia include weakness, irregular or fast heartbeat, lightheadedness or mild vertigo, pale mucosal membrane and pale skin and nail bed, short nail, chest pain, numbness or coldness of the extremities, and headache (Telford et al. 2003). Hemolytic anemia is usually followed by raised bilirubin and hematopoiesis in bone marrow and jaundice, due to hemolysis (Telford et al. 2003). Use of ethno medicinal plants along with chemical drugs has always been taken into account for prevention, control, and treatment of hemolytic anemia (Zangeneh et al. 2018b; Boretti et al. 2009; Holley and Patel 2005; McKie et al. 2004). Use of plants to treat diseases has a history longer than human history (Han 2000; Farzaei et al. 2018; Hamelian et al. 2018; Sayyedrostami et al. 2018; Zhaleh * Mohammad Mahdi Zangeneh m.mehdizangeneh@yahoo.com 1 Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran 2 Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3 Halal Research Center of IRI.FDA.MOH, Tehran, Iran 4 Department of Clinical Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran 5 Biotechnology and Medicinal Plants Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran 6 Department of Microbiology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran