Anti-Blastocystis Activity In Vitro of Egyptian Herbal Extracts (Family: Asteraceae) with Emphasis on Artemisia judaica

Abstract

Achillea fragrantissima (Forssk.) Sch. Bip. (known as Qaysoom), Echinops spinosus L. (known as Shoak Elgamal) and Artemisia judaica L. (known Shih Baladi) are members of the Asteraceae family known for their traditional medical use in Egypt. The ethanol extracts of these plants were evaluated for their efficacy against a protozoan parasite (Blastocystis). Two different molecular subtypes of Blastocystis were used (ST1 and ST3). Significant growth inhibition of Blastocystis was observed when exposed to both A. judaica (99.3%) and A. fragrantissima (95.6%) with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC90) at 2000 µg/mL. Under the effect of the extracts, changes in Blastocystis morphology were noted, with the complete destruction of Blastocystis forms after 72 h with the dose of 4000 µg/mL. Different subtypes displayed different responses to the herbal extracts tested. ST1 exhibited significantly different responses to the herbal extracts compared to ST3. A. judaica was selected as the herb of choice considering all of its variables and because of its effective action against Blastocystis. It was then exposed to further fractionation and observation of its effect on ST1 and ST3. Solvent portioned fractions (dichloromethane (DCM), ethyl acetate (EtOAc) and n-hexane) in A. judaica were found to be the potent active fractions against both of the Blastocystis subtypes used.

Blastocystis species and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Peruvian Adults Attended in a Public Hospital

“…The vacuolar morphological stage of Blastocystis sp. was prevalent in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients, as reported in other studies [ 12 ]. No association was found between its morphological stage and gastrointestinal symptom, in contrast to other studies that reported associations with the symptoms.…”

In Vitro and In Vivo Studies of Anti-Lung Cancer Activity of Artemesia judaica L. Crude Extract Combined with LC-MS/MS Metabolic Profiling, Docking Simulation and HPLC-DAD Quantification

“…Herbal products can enhance the actions and diminish the toxicity of conventional chemotherapeutic drugs [ 1 ]. Artemisia judaica L. (Arabic name, Shih Balady) belongs to the family Asteraceae and grows widely in the Mediterranean region [ 5 ]. A. judaica L. is widely used by Bedouins as an anthelmintic and antiseptic oil.…”

“…Several scientific reports have handled the biological activities of the crude extract, fractions of different polarities, isolated active fractions, or pure compounds. The ethanolic crude extract of A. judaica L. has shown anti-blastocystis, antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects [ 5 , 12 ]. Additionally, the hydro-methanolic extract of the aerial parts proved its hypoglycemic activity through the inhibition of α -glucosidase and significant scavenging activity for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals [ 13 , 14 ].…”

In vitro susceptibility of human Blastocystis subtypes to simeprevir

“…Similarly, Girish et al (2015) reported uniform inhibition among different Blastocystis subtypes. On the contrary, other anti- Blastocystis protease inhibitors induced variable effects on different Blastocystis subtypes ( Al-Mohammed et al, 2013 , Mokhtar et al, 2019 ). Subtype dependent variation might explain the variable response of different Blastocystis subtypes to the same drug in vitro ( Mokhtar et al, 2019 ).…”

“…By the end of the cultivation interval, culture sediment of each isolate was examined by iodine smear, then the four tubes were divided as follows; three tubes were further sub-cultured for conducting the drug susceptibility assay, while 0.5 ml of the fourth culture tube sediment was frozen at −20 °C for DNA extraction ( Mokhtar et al, 2019 ).…”