Antiparasitic activity of carvacrol obtained from Thymus caramanicus Jalas

Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease afflict the southern region of Iran. The Persian flora represents a rich source for the screening of potential antiparasitic compounds. Thymus species are well known as medicinal plants because of several biological and pharmacological properties Thymus caramanicus Jalas is an endemic species in Iran. The essential oils of air dried samples were obtained by hydrodistillation. The oils were analyzed by GC and GC-MS [1]. The bioassays were carried out using blood of infected Swiss albino mice as standard method[2]. Carvacrol (58.9–68.9%) was the major compound in all samples. So we investigated carvacrol in vitro antiparasitic effect against L. chagasi and T. cruzi parasites. Carvacrol reduced the number of infected macrophages at 31µg/ml by 79.1%. Carvacrol has also strong effect against the trypomastigotes, killing approximately 100% of the parasites at the maximal concentration of 100µg/ml. Cytotoxicity against mammalian cells was evaluated for carvacrol, but it showed little cytotoxicity and a considerable antiparasitic effect. Plants are a rich source of natural compounds, and a powerful tool for the development of new arsenals for the therapy of protozoan diseases.

Acknowledgements: Department of Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Islamic Azad University of Medical Sciences Research Center for financial support.

References: 1. Salehi, P. et al. (2005) Biol. Pharm. Bull. 28:1892–1896

2. Ambrozin, A.R.P. (2004) Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro. 99:227–231