The effects of hydro-alcoholic extract of Artemisia dracunculus L. (Tarragon) on hematological parameters in mice

Introduction: Artemisia dracunculus L. (Tarragon) is one of the plants that uses as meal and remedy for a long time, and possesses many medicinal properties. In traditional medicine also has mentioned to its beneficial properties. A number of researches through in vitro and in vivo studies showed the pharmacological properties of this plant. This study was done for determining the effect of hydro-alcoholic extract of A. Dracunculus L. on some hematological parameters among mice. Materials and methods: In this study, 40 male mice were divided into five groups: a control, a placebo, and three treatment groups that were injected with 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg doses of hydro-alcoholic extract of tarragon every other day for 20 days. At the end of injections, the levels of WBC, RBC, lymphocytes, monocytes, and neutrophils were measured. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software and analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. Results: The obtained results showed that there was no significant difference in amounts of WBC, RBC, and monocytes in the treatment groups in comparison with the control group. Lymphocytes showed significant decrease in groups of 100 and 200 mg/kg doses than the control group. The level of neutrophils showed significant increase in two treatment groups (100 and 200 mg/kg) than the control group. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the hydro-alcoholic extract of tarragon stimulates the production of neutrophils in this study which can be used as an immunostimulating agent.