In vitro effects of aqueous extracts of garlic [allium sativum] and onion [allium cepa] on tricizoinonas vaginalis

ABSTRACT

Although meironidazole [MTZ] is widely used to treat trichomoniasis, the prevalence of MTZ -resistance and its unpleasant adverse effects are well recognized. This drew the attention to the investigation of other lines of treatment, as that of herbal medicine. Plants of the genus Allium including garlic and onion proved to have important medicinal role for centuries. Sonic studies proved the antibacterial, antifungal. antiviral, antiprotozoal and antihelmintic properties of genus Allium plants. The present study aimed to investigate the in the vitro effects of crude aqueous garlic extract [AGE] and aqueous onion extract [AOE] on Tricliotnonas vaginalis growth and motility in comparison to MTZ. AGE and AOE were prepared from bulbs of garlic and onion. Different concentrations of AGE, AOE and MTZ were tested for their effect on the growth and motility of T vaginalis trophozoites maintained in Trypticase-yeast extract maltose [TYM] medium. Inhibition of parasite multiplication occurred in proportion to concentration of AGE, AOE and incubation time. Minimal lethal concentration [MLC] of AGE was 75, 62.5, 50, 37.5 mg/ml after 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours, respectively. The lowest concentration of 25 mg/ml AGE failed to cause total inhibition of the parasite multiplication. Growth reduction was 77.1-87.2% in all incubation periods. The MLC of AOE was 275, 250, 225.5 and 200 mg/ml after 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours, respectively. The concentration 175 mg/ml failed to produce total inhibition of parasite multiplication in all incubation periods with maximal inhibition of 92.4% after 96 hours. Similar effects were obtained with MTZ as its MEG was 50, 25 and 12 micro g/ml after 24, 48 and 72 hours. All of the tested components remarkably inhibited the motility of the trophozoites. Garlic and onion had a statistically highly significant inhibitory effect on T vagina/is as that of MTZ. Garlic was nearly 3.7 times more potent than onion. This suggests that garlic and onion may be promising phytothcrapeutic agents for trichomoniasis