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First report of anti-Trichomonas vaginalis activity of the medicinal plant Polygala decumbens from the Brazilian semi-arid region, Caatinga

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Abstract

Trichomonosis, caused by the flagellate protozoan Trichomonas vaginalis, is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease worldwide. Actually, the infection treatment is based on 5-nitroimidazole drugs. However, an emergent number of resistant isolates makes important the search for new therapeutic arsenal. In this sense, the investigation of plants and their metabolites is an interesting approach. In the present study, the anti-T. vaginalis activity of 44 aqueous extracts from 23 Caatinga plants used in folk medicine was evaluated. After screening 44 aqueous extracts from 23 distinct plants against two isolates from ATCC and four fresh clinical isolates, only the Polygala decumbens root extract was effective in reducing significantly the trophozoite viability. The MIC value against all isolates tested, including the metronidazole resistant, was 1.56 mg/mL. The kinetic growth assays showed that the extract was able to completely abolish the parasite density in the first hours of incubation, confirmed by microscopy. In summary, this study describes the first report on the activity of P. decumbens from Caatinga against T. vaginalis, being directly related to the popular knowledge and use.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the Brazilian agencies CAPES and CNPq for student's fellowships. We are very grateful to the curator of the Herbarium IPA for allowing access to the collection and the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade (ICMBio) for authorizing collections in PARNA do Catimbau (Sisbio 16.806). This work was supported by the NANOBIOTEC-Brazil program from CAPES and FAPERGS. AJM acknowledges CNPq (Nanotec Jovens Pesquisadores and Universal 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga 2752, 90610-000, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Amanda Piccoli Frasson, Odelta dos Santos, Mariana Duarte, Danielle da Silva Trentin, Tiana Tasca & Alexandre José Macedo

  2. Centro de Ciências da Saúde–Departamento de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Rua Gustavo Cordeiro de Farias, s/n, 59010-180, Natal, RN, Brazil

    Raquel Brandt Giordani

  3. Centro de Ciências Biológicas e Departamento de Bioquímica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Professor Moraes Rego 1235, 50.670-901, Recife, PE, Brazil

    Alexandre Gomes da Silva & Márcia Vanusa da Silva

  4. Faculdade de Farmácia and Centro de Biotecnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, 91501-970, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Danielle da Silva Trentin & Alexandre José Macedo

Authors
  1. Amanda Piccoli Frasson
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  2. Odelta dos Santos
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  3. Mariana Duarte
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  4. Danielle da Silva Trentin
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  5. Raquel Brandt Giordani
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  6. Alexandre Gomes da Silva
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  7. Márcia Vanusa da Silva
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  8. Tiana Tasca
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  9. Alexandre José Macedo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tiana Tasca.

Additional information

Amanda Piccoli Frasson and Odelta dos Santos contributed equally to this work.

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Frasson, A.P., dos Santos, O., Duarte, M. et al. First report of anti-Trichomonas vaginalis activity of the medicinal plant Polygala decumbens from the Brazilian semi-arid region, Caatinga. Parasitol Res 110, 2581–2587 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2787-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-011-2787-4

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