In-Vitro Effect of Kalanchoe daigremontiana and Its Main Component, Quercetin against Entamoeba histolytica and Trichomonas vaginalis.

BACKGROUND

Parasitic infections represent one of the main public health problems in humans according to the WHO. Therefore, the need has arisen to find new treatments that can be used as an alternative cure to parasitosis. We aimed to investigate the in-vitro effects of the methanolic extract of Kalanchoe daigremontiana as well as its main component, quercetin against Entamoeba histolytica and Trichomonas vaginalis.

METHODS

For this purpose, the in-vitro activity of the methanol extract of K. daigremontiana also its main component, quercetin, against trophozoites of E. histolytica and T. vaginalis was evaluated, using the microassay technique. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity was determined. Finally, the cytotoxic and cytoprotective capacity was determined using the hemolysis technique.

RESULTS

The IC50 indicated that quercetin significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited the growth rate of the trophozoite stage of E. histolytica and T. vaginalis in comparison to the methanolic extract of K. daigremontiana (KalL). Also, quercetin significantly (P < 0.05) was a better antioxidant as compared with the positive control. In the evaluation of cytotoxicity effects, it could be observed that KalL as compared with quercetin exhibited more cytotoxicity against human erythrocytes. Quercetin significantly (P < 0.001) exhibited better cytoprotective activity compared to KalL.

CONCLUSION

Both K. daigremontiana methanolic extract and quercetin alone demonstrated high antiparasitic activity against E. histolytica and T. vaginalis. However, the in-vivo efficacy of K. daigremontiana and quercetin also requires to be evaluated using an animal model.