title: Plant active components - a resource for antiparasitic agents?
abstract: Plant essential oils (and/or active components) can be used as alternatives or adjuncts to current antiparasitic therapies. Garlic oil has broad-spectrum activity against Trypanosoma, Plasmodium, Giardia and Leishmania, and Cochlospermum planchonii and Croton cajucara oils specifically inhibit Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania amazonensis, respectively. Some plant oils have immunomodulatory effects that could modify host-parasite immunobiology, and the lipid solubility of plant oils might offer alternative, transcutaneous delivery routes. The emergence of parasites resistant to current chemotherapies highlights the importance of plant essential oils as novel antiparasitic agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences, Queen Margaret University College, Clerwood Terrace, Edinburgh, UK, EH12 8TS.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Anthony
authors.forename: Lorna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fyfe
authors.forename: Huw
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D010938:Plant Oils