Rosmarinus Officinalis L. essential oil: in Silico molecular docking and in vivo nematocidal activity on intestinal and muscular trichinellosis.

BACKGROUND

Despite its deleterious effects, modest activity in muscular larval stages and burgeoning resistance, the control of trichinellosis relies primarily on albendazole. To avert the shortfalls, Rosmarinus officinalis essential oil (ROEO), a promising traditional African phytotherapeutic agent, has been harnessed to evaluate its therapeutic profile on murine trichinellosis.

METHODS

Employing in silico molecular docking, the interaction between phytochemicals of ROEO and possible targets, tubulin tyrosine ligase and thymidylate synthase was explored. The in vivo anti-Trichinella activity of a five-day oral treatment of 400 mg/kg/dose of ROEO was assessed against adult and larval stages via parasitological, ultrastructural, biochemical and histopathological studies.

RESULTS

Molecular docking analysis revealed that the main constituents of ROEO exhibited variable interactions with both targets. Parasitologically, ROEO administration recorded a statistically significant reduction (84.0%R and 73.5%R) in mean worms recovered during the intestinal and muscular phases, respectively. Severe topographic deformities were observed in ROEO-treated worms. Biochemically, the highest antioxidant reduced glutathione level that constrained the detrimental oxidant malondialdehyde in serum was achieved by ROEO. Histopathologically, ROEO had obviously ameliorated inflammatory and fibrotic responses during the muscular stage.

CONCLUSIONS

This study is the first to highlight the in silico molecular docking and in vivo anti-Trichinella activity of ROEO. Its potentiality in inducing multistage activity and mitigating the inflammation in both intestine and muscles was greatly indebted to suppressing targeted proteins and its high antioxidant activity.