Lippia sidoides and Lippia origanoides essential oils affect the viability, motility and ultrastructure of Trypanosoma cruzi

Publication date: Available online 12 November 2019Source: MicronAuthor(s): Andrezza Raposo Borges de Melo, Taciana Mirely Maciel Higino, Aline Dulce Pitt da Rocha Oliveira, Adriana Fontes, Diego César Nunes da Silva, Maria Carolina Accioly Brelaz de Castro, José Arimatéia Dantas Lopes, Regina Celia Bressan Queiroz de FigueiredoAbstractChagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is considered a public health problem. The current chemotherapy for this illness causes serious side effects and its use in the chronic phase of the disease is still controversial. In this sense, the investigation of novel therapeutic strategies remains a priority. The essential oils (EOs) from aromatic plants emerge as a promising source of bioactive compounds. In a previous work we reported the trypanocidal activity of the essential oils from the medicinal plants Lippia sidoides (LSEO) and Lippia origanoides (LOEO) against T. cruzi. Herein, we aimed to further investigate, in more details, the mode of action of LSEO and LOEO on the different developmental stages of this parasite. We showed that Lippia sidoides (LSEO) and Lippia origanoides (LOEO) induced a significant reduction in the percentage of macrophages infected by T. cruzi and in the number of intracellular parasites. Ultrastructural analysis showed that the treatment with both oils caused morphological changes consistent with loss of viability and cell death. The reduced staining with calcein and the increase in the propor...
Source: Micron - Category: Biology Source Type: research