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Vol.2 , No. 4, Publication Date: Aug. 11, 2015, Page: 21-27
 Essential Oil and Its Main Component, Thymol, in Mice&description=The present study’s aim was to determine the chemical composition of the <i>Thymus vulgaris</i> essential oil, and evaluate both activity: the oil and thymol, against <i>Trypanosoma cruzi </i> in mice. We used albino mice that were randomly assigned to the following groups (n = 15): infected and untreated (G1); infected and treated with <i>Thymus vulgaris</i> essential oil 200 mg/kg (G2); infected and treated with thymol 200 mg/kg (G3); infected and treated with benznidazole 100 mg/kg (G4); untreated and non-infected (G5); and not infected and treated with 200 mg/kg of <i>Thymus vulgaris</i> (G6). The treatment was carried out from the 8<sup>th</sup> post infection day (PID). The parasitaemia was individually verified each 2 days by direct microscopy, counting the parasites in 5 µL of blood. On 14<sup>th</sup>, 21<sup> st </sup> and 28<sup>th</sup> PID, five mice from each group were sacrificed, and hearts were quickly removed and processed for histopathological analysis. <i>Thymus vulgaris</i> essential oil and thymol in doses of 200 mg/kg/day by intragastric way produced a significant reduction in parasitaemia in the 22<sup>th</sup> PID, from 57.60 ± 16.97 to 30.10 ± 15,18 trypomastigotes/mL (p< 0.05), and up to 10.90 ± 3.67 trypomastigotes/mL (p < 0.001), respectively. The number of amastigotes and inflammatory infiltrates in heart tissue were also reduced at the end of the experiment. These results suggest that the <i>Thymus vulgaris</i> essential oil and thymol have an anti-<i>Trypanosoma cruzi</i> effect <i> in vivo </i> on infected mice.&picture=http://www.aascit.org/aascit/decorators/img/journal/922.jpg)
| [1] | Rojas Armas Juan, Pharmacology Section, Medicine’s Faculty, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. |
| [2] | Palacios Agüero Olga, Medicine Tropical Institute, Medicine’s Faculty, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. |
| [3] | Palomino Pacheco Mirian, Chemistry Section, Medicine’s Faculty, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. |
The present study’s aim was to determine the chemical composition of the Thymus vulgaris essential oil, and evaluate both activity: the oil and thymol, against Trypanosoma cruzi in mice. We used albino mice that were randomly assigned to the following groups (n = 15): infected and untreated (G1); infected and treated with Thymus vulgaris essential oil 200 mg/kg (G2); infected and treated with thymol 200 mg/kg (G3); infected and treated with benznidazole 100 mg/kg (G4); untreated and non-infected (G5); and not infected and treated with 200 mg/kg of Thymus vulgaris (G6). The treatment was carried out from the 8th post infection day (PID). The parasitaemia was individually verified each 2 days by direct microscopy, counting the parasites in 5 µL of blood. On 14th, 21 st and 28th PID, five mice from each group were sacrificed, and hearts were quickly removed and processed for histopathological analysis. Thymus vulgaris essential oil and thymol in doses of 200 mg/kg/day by intragastric way produced a significant reduction in parasitaemia in the 22th PID, from 57.60 ± 16.97 to 30.10 ± 15,18 trypomastigotes/mL (p< 0.05), and up to 10.90 ± 3.67 trypomastigotes/mL (p < 0.001), respectively. The number of amastigotes and inflammatory infiltrates in heart tissue were also reduced at the end of the experiment. These results suggest that the Thymus vulgaris essential oil and thymol have an anti-Trypanosoma cruzi effect in vivo on infected mice.
Keywords
Trypanosoma cruzi, Thymus vulgaris, Thyme, Thymol, Essential Oil, Mice
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