Molecular identification of Trypanosoma brucei brucei and in vitro anti-trypanosomal activity of different parts of methanolic extract of Senna occidentalis

Abstract

Objective The present study investigated the anti-Trypanosoma brucei brucei activity of methanolic extract of Senna occidentalis roots, leaves, stem bark, and seed in vitro and bioactive components of the most active plant part. Materials and methods Trypanosoma brucei brucei was identified by PCR, cultured in Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) and incubated at 37 °C and 5% CO2. Subsequently, the cultured T. brucei brucei were incubated with 500 μg/ml concentration of different parts of S. occidentalis plant and the most potent fraction was identified and subjected to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Results Amplicons of the rRNA gene of T. brucei brucei detected had a size of 1200 bp. The anti-trypanosomal activities indicated that the root extract of the plant was the most active at 500 μg/ml with inhibitory activity of 88.89% and fractions (2 and 5) the most active with IC50 values of 1.49 and 1.16 μg/ml respectively. Conclusion Results from this study insinuates that phenolic and simple aliphatic compounds might play key role in the anti-trypanosomal activity of S. occidentalis roots.