Myrrh Oil in Vitro Inhibitory Growth on Bovine and Equine Piroplasm Parasites and Babesia microti of Mice

Abstract

The present experimental study was conducted for the assessment of the efficacy of in vitro inhibition of myrrh oil on the propagation of Babesia bovis, B. divergens, B. bigemina, Theileria equi, and B. caballi and in vivo efficacy on B. microti in mice through fluorescence assay based on SYBR green I. The culture of B. divergens B. bovis and was used to evaluate the in vitro possible interaction between myrrh oil and other commercial compound, such as pyronaridine tetraphosphate (PYR), diminazene aceturate (DA), or luteolin. Nested-polymerase chain reaction protocol using primers of the small-subunit rRNA of B. microti was employed to detect any remnants of DNA for studied parasitic species either in blood or tissues. Results elucidated that; Myrrh oil significantly inhibit the growth at 1% of parasitic blood level for all bovine and equine piroplasm under the study. Parasitic regrowth was inhibited subsequently by viability test at 2 µg/mL for B. bigemina and B. bovis, and there was a significant improvement in the in vitro growth inhibition by myrrh oil when combined with DA, PYR, and luteolin. At the same time; mice treated with a combination of myrrh oil/DA showed a higher inhibition in emitted fluorescence signals than the group that challenged with 25 mg/kg of diminazene aceturate at 10 and 12 days post-infection. In conclusion, this study has recommended the myrrh oil to treat animal piroplasmosis, especially in combination with low doses of DA.

Effects of Methanolic Extract from Turmeric (Curcuma longa) against the In Vitro Multiplication of Several Babesia Species and Theileria equi

“…The inhibitory effects of turmeric were amplified when coupled with DA, results similar to those previously observed in myrrh oil/DA [19], allicin/DA [14], and TQ/DA [16] combinations. The potential of turmeric methanolic extract to overcome toxicity and parasite resistance to the regularly used anti-babesial medication DA is highlighted by these studies.…”

“…As previously reported [19], the toxicity of turmeric to host RBCs was studied. Bovine and equine RBCs were pretreated for 3 h at 37 • C with either the media alone or media containing 25 mg/mL turmeric methanolic extract.…”

“…The inhibitory efficacy of turmeric against B. bovis (Texas strain) [17,24], B. divergens (German strain) [18], B. caballi [2,25], and T. equi (US Department of Agriculture) [2,26] (Figure 3) was investigated. Species-specific red blood cells were used to cultivate the parasites [17,19]. A fluorescence assay and SGI stain were used to investigate the efficacy of turmeric to prevent Babesia/Theileria proliferation [8,17].…”

Human Babesiosis in Europe

“…However, cases do not occur frequently enough to justify research in drug discovery and development for human treatment alone. In recent years a significant number of drugs have been tested against this parasite in vitro for veterinary use, for example atranorin [ 154 ], cryptolepine [ 155 ], fusidic acid [ 156 ], hydroxyurea and eflornithine [ 155 ], myrrh oil [ 157 ] trans-chalcone and chalcone 4 hydrate [ 158 ], and the hope is that promising drugs will also prove useful for human infections.…”

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“…The major volatile oils of the shrub include sterols, steroids, and sesquiterpenes, which, together, constitute 2 to 10% 12 . On the other hand, ethanol and water-soluble resins contain 30 to 60% and 25 to 40% of proteins and polysaccharides, respectively 21 . The gum generates a wide variety of sugars upon hydrolysis 22 .…”