Schistosomicidal Activity of the Essential Oil of Ageratum conyzoides L. (Asteraceae) against Adult Schistosoma mansoni Worms

Abstract

The in vitro schistosomicidal effects of the essential oil of Ageratum conyzoides L. (Ac-EO) against adult worms of Schistosoma mansoni is reported in this paper. Concerning this activity, Ac-EO was considered to be active, but less effective than the positive control (praziquantel, PZQ) in terms of separation of coupled pairs, mortality, decrease in motor activity, and tegumental alterations. However, Ac-EO caused an interesting dose-dependent reduction in the number of eggs of S. mansoni. Precocene I (74.30%) and (E)-caryophyllene (14.23%) were identified as the two major constituents of Ac-EO. These compounds were tested individually and were found to be much less effective than Ac-EO and PZQ. A mixture of the two major compounds in a ratio similar to that found in the Ac-EO was also less effective than Ac-EO, thus revealing that there are no synergistic effects between these components. These results suggest that the essential oil of A. conyzoides is very promising for the development of new schistosomicidal agents.

In vitro antiparasitic activity and chemical composition of the essential oil from Protium ovatum leaves (Burceraceae)

“…It is a relevant fact since this terpene is found at a concentration above 10 % in essential oil from P. ovatum leaves, a justification for the promising leishmanicidal potential of the species. Another important factor that can lead to good performance of antiparasitic activity is either the synergism of the major chemical constituents found in the essential oil or the presence of other constituents that can also be active at even lower concentrations (Melo et al 2011). It is relevant to mention the efficacy of the essential oils that have promising biological activities when the mixture of all their constituents, minor and major ones, is evaluated (Raut and Karuppayil 2014).…”

“…As a result, they could damage the parasite cell membrane structure, which would lead to cellular lysis (Anthony et al 2005). In addition, there could be synergistic and/or additive effects of the constituents of essential oils (Melo et al 2011).…”

Obtaining of the essential oil of Syzygium aromaticum, identification of eugenol and its effect on Streptococcus mutans.

“…It is considered as the molecule responsible for the great variety of its activities studied 16,17 . When separating the oil compounds through chromatography, using hexane/acetone 9:1 as mobile phase allowed an efficient chromatographic separation, coinciding with other reports described, and seeing the presence of eugenol in the study sample.…”

In vivo and In vitro of Arctiin Schistosomicidal Activity

“…Several biological activities have been described for Arctiin, a molecule isolated from the Arctium lappa L., such as antiinflammatory [16] and anti-proliferative [23][24][25][26]. In this work, we sought to investigate schistosomicidal potential of this molecule In vitro effects of arctiin at 50, 100 and 200 μM concentrations on parasite viability, motor activity and tegument damage evaluated on daily basis for 3 days [2,7].…”