Anti-Trichomonas gallinae activity of essential oils and main compounds from Lamiaceae and Asteraceae plants

Abstract

Trichomonas gallinae is a flagellated protozoan that parasitizes the upper digestive tract of various bird species and causes avian trichomonosis. The emergence of resistant strains to the standard treatment, based on nitroimidazoles, increases the need to find alternative therapies. In this study, 36 essential oils (EOs) from Lamiaceae and Asteraceae plant families were tested against T. gallinae trophozoites using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-)-2,5-dipheniltetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay. Among them, EOs from distinct species of Lamiaceae, including the genera Lavandula, Salvia, Thymus, Origanum, and Satureja were the ones reporting better anti-trichomonal activity, and were selected for further analysis, including chemical composition and in vitro assays. The chemical composition of the selected EOs was determined by gas chromatography followed by mass spectrometry and 19 pure compounds were tested against the protozoa, according to their higher abundance in the active EOs. Pure compounds which displayed the highest activity against T. gallinae trophozoites, ordered by highest to lowest activity, were α and β-thujones, camphene, β-pinene, linalyl acetate, thymol, 4-terpineol, γ-terpinene, α-pinene, p-cymene, D-fenchone and β-caryophyllene. A dose dependent effect was observed in most of the EOs and pure compounds tested. The toxicity test conducted in eukaryotic cell cultures with the anti-trichomonal active pure compounds showed that β-caryophyllene, camphene, α-pinene, and β-pinene were slightly toxic for Vero cells, and the selectivity index was calculated. Based on the anti-trichomonal activity and the absence of cytotoxicity results, natural products from Lamiaceae plants could be useful as alternative therapy against avian trichomonosis, mainly those containing linalyl acetate, thymol, 4-terpinenol, γ-terpinene, p-cymene and D-fenchone.

Anti-Trypanosomatidae Activity of Essential Oils and Their Main Components from Selected Medicinal Plants

“…The genus Satureja comprises numerous species of shrubs or aromatic herbs with acaricidal, insecticidal, and antiparasitic properties [ 45 ]. Satureja montana EO has interesting properties against bacteria, fungi, viruses, helminths, insects, and protozoa [ 24 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 ]. EOs from Satureja khuzestanica , Satureja bakhtiarica , and Satureja punctata demonstrated antileishmanial effects on L. major , L. donovani , and L. aethiopica previously [ 50 , 51 , 52 ].…”

“…The plant species were identified by Dr. Daniel Gomez, IPE-CSIC, and the seeds were deposited at the CITA (Centro de Investigación y Tecnología Agroalimentaria de Aragón, Unidad de Recursos Forestales, Zaragoza, Spain) germplasm bank. Location, identification, and voucher numbers of the remaining species have been previously reported by Bailén et al [ 24 ].…”

“…The EOs were obtained at the Research Center and Food Technology (CITA-Aragón, Spain) using two different methods, hydrodistillation (HD) and steam distillation (SD), as described by Bailén et al [ 24 ]. Aerial plant parts were collected at the flowering stage between 2016 and 2019.…”

“…Cells seeded in 96-well flat-bottom microplates with 100 μL medium per well (initial densities 10 4 cells per well) were exposed for 48 h to serial dilutions (100, 75, 50, 25, 10 and 1 µg/mL) of the tested compounds in DMSO (< 1% final concentration). The cell viability was analyzed by the MTT colorimetric assay method, and the purple-colored formazan precipitate was dissolved with 100 μL of DMSO [ 24 ].…”

Could natural terpenes be an alternative for the treatment of neglected tropical diseases?

“…Both compounds displayed considerable toxicity against E. granulosus protoscoleces, with LC 50 values of 16.14 μM and 31.23 μM, respectively (Tabari et al., 2019). Additionally, compound 27 shows antiprotozoal and nematocidal activity (Bailén et al., 2022; Lima et al., 2021; Pacheco et al., 2022; Pereira Filho et al., 2023 ) . The compounds isofuranodiene ( 29 ) and beta‐myrcene ( 30 ) have been found to possess moderate activity against E. granulosus protoscoleces.…”