Abstract

ROJAS, Juan; RONCEROS, Sergio; PALACIOS, Olga  and  SEVILLA, Carlos. Cymbopogon citratus (DC) Stapf (lemongrass) essential oil has anti-Trypanosoma cruzi effect in Balb/c mice. An. Fac. med. [online]. 2012, vol.73, n.1, pp.7-12. ISSN 1025-5583.

Objective: To determine anti-Trypanosoma cruzi effect of Cymbopogon citratus essential oil in Balb/c mice. Design: Experimental, prospective study. Setting: Institute of Clinical Research and Institute of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. Biological material: Cymbopogon citrates essential oil; Balb/c albino mice. Interventions: Animals were randomly assigned to six groups (n = 15): infected and untreated (G1), infected and treated with benznidazole 100 mg/kg (G2), infected and treated with essential oil of Cymbopogon citratus 100 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg (G3 and G4, respectively), uninfected and untreated (G5), and uninfected and treated with 250 mg/kg of Cymbopogon citratus (G6). Infection with T. cruzi was conducted with 10⁴ blood trypomastigotes and treatment began on 8th day post infection (dpi) through 28th dpi. Parasitemia was determined by optical microscopy every 2 days in 5 µL of blood drawn from the tail. In dpi 14, 21 and 28, five animals from each group were sacrificed and the heart was removed for pathology study. Main outcome measures: Parasitemia, number of amastigotes nests and inflammatory infiltrates. Results: Cymbopogon citratus essential oil 250 mg/kg/day reduced parasitemia peak significantly from 113.92 ± 25.66 to 74.60 ± 12.37 tripomastigotes/mL (p <0.05). With 100 mg/kg/day there was a reduction to 77.40 ± 14.93 tripomastigotes/mL (p <0.05). There was also reduction in number of amastigotes and inflammatory infiltrates in the heart. Conclusions: Cymbopogon citratus essential oil had anti-Trypanosoma cruzi effect in Balb/c mice as shown by decline in parasitemia, number of amastigotes nests and inflammatory infiltrates.

Keywords : Trypanosoma cruz; Cymbopogon citratus; lemongrass; essential oil.

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