title: Effects of Extracts from Thai Piperaceae Plants against Infection with Toxoplasma gondii.
abstract: Herbal medicines and natural herb extracts are widely used as alternative treatments for various parasitic diseases, and such extracts may also have potential to decrease the side effects of the standard regimen drugs used to treat toxoplasmosis (sulfadiazine-pyrimethamine combination). We evaluated how effective the Thai piperaceae plants Piper betle, P. nigrum and P. sarmentosum are against Toxoplasma gondii infection in vitro and in vivo. Individually, we extracted the piperaceae plants with ethanol, passed them through a rotary evaporator and then lyophilized them to obtain crude extracts for each one. The in vitro study indicated that the P. betle extract was the most effective extract at inhibiting parasite growth in HFF cells (IC50 on RH-GFP: 23.2 μg/mL, IC50 on PLK-GFP: 21.4 μg/mL). Furthermore, treatment of experimental mice with the P. betle extract for 7 days after infection with 1,000 tachyzoites of the T. gondii PLK strain increased their survival (survival rates: 100% in 400 mg/kg-treated, 83.3% in 100 mg/kg-treated, 33.3% in 25 mg/kg-treated, 33.3% in untreated mice). Furthermore, treatment with 400 mg/kg of the P. betle extract resulted in 100% mouse survival following infection with 100,000 tachyzoites. The present study shows that P. betle extract has the potential to act as a medical plant for the treatment of toxoplasmosis.
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Arpron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leesombun
authors.affiliation: Department of Preclinic and Applied Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, 999 Phutthamonthon Sai 4 Road Salaya, Phutthamonthon Nakhonpathom 73170, Thailand.
authors.forename: Sookruetai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boonmasawai
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shimoda
authors.affiliation: National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido 080-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D031721:Piper betle / Q000737:chemistry; D029222:Piper nigrum / Q000737:chemistry; D026321:Piperaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D013411:Sulfadiazine / Q000494:pharmacology; D013785:Thailand; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014709:Vero Cells
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013411:Sulfadiazine