Anti‐Toxoplasma activity and chemical compositions of aquatic extract of Mentha pulegium L. and Rubus idaeus L.: An in vitro study

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the chemical compositions of crude aquatic extracts of M. pulegium L. and R. idaeus L., and their anti‐ Toxoplasma activity. Crude aquatic extraction of aerial parts of R. idaeus L. and M. pulegium L. was performed. GC‐MS and HTPLC analyses were carried out. MTT assay was performed on Vero cells treated by different concentrations (Log −10 from 10 −1 to 10 −6 ) of the extracts. The anti‐ Toxoplasma activity of the concentrations was investigated using vital staining. Menthol (99.23%) and limonene (0.227%) were the major compounds of the aquatic extract of M. pulegium L. Phytochemical compositions of R. idaeus L. were terpenoids, esterols, and flavonoids. The cell toxicity of M. pulegium L. was lower than R. idaeus L. (CC50 > 10 −2 versus. ≥ 10 −4 ). Aquatic extract of M. pulegium L. showed higher anti‐ Toxoplasma activity (LC50 ≥ 10 −6 ) than R. idaeus L. (LC50 ≥ 10 −5 ). Statistically significant cell toxicity and anti‐ Toxoplasma activity ( p < .05) were seen regarding the different concentrations of R. idaeus L. and M. pulegium L. Both R. idaeus L. and M. pulegium L. revealed anti‐ Toxoplasma activities. Cell toxicity of R. idaeus L. was significantly higher than M. pulegium L. M. pulegium L. extract could be more applicable due to its lower cell toxicity.

Formulation of Neem oil-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles and evaluation of its anti-Toxoplasma activity

“…T. gondii is an opportunistic and life-threatening parasite, particularly in AIDS patients, cancer patients, and organ transplant recipients [ 3 , 7 ]; therefore, treatment of human toxoplasmosis seems to be an urgent need for susceptible groups. Several studies have evaluated the effects of herbal medicines on T. gondii [ 10 , 36 , 53 – 56 ]. A. indica (Neem) belongs to Mahogany family and has been used as herbal medicine, particularly in Africa and south of Asia [ 57 ].…”

“…Actually, unspecific standard dosage, low stability, unknown side effects, low bioavailability, and low available scientific evidence seem to be the main concerns for the commercial development of the herbal medicine [ 61 ]. For example, Mohammad Rahimi et al [ 36 ] showed that although the aqueous extract of Mentha pulegium L. and Rubus idaeus L. presented promising anti- Toxoplasma effects, cell toxicity of the extracts, particularly, R. idaeus L. limited employing of R. idaeus L. for herbal therapy. The nanoformulation of the herbal extracts can not only increase the bioavailability, effectiveness, and target delivery, but also decrease the aforementioned limitations of the herbal extracts [ 9 , 62 ].…”

“…To evaluate the results, plate was read using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) microplate reader (LX800; Biotec, Winooski, VA, USA) at wavelength 570. All experiences were done in duplicate, and the toxicity effects were calculated using the formula, which was mentioned elsewhere [ 33 – 36 ]. The 50% Inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) was calculated for concentration that killed at least 50% of T. gondii .…”

“…A well of T. gondii without any treatment was negative control. After 2 h, 10 μL of T. gondii from each well of different concentrations of the NeO-SLNs were stained by vital staining (trypan blue), and the number of alive cells was calculated using hemocytometer slide [ 36 , 37 ]. All experiments were performed in duplicate.…”

“…To calculate the probable best concentration of the NeO-SLNs with the highest anti- Toxoplasma activity and lowest cell toxicity, the ratio was calculated as described previously [ 33 , 36 ].…”