Background and purpose: There is an increasing rate of drug resistance against trichomoniasis and current drugs used in treatment of this disease have many side effects, therefore, attempts have been made to explore alternative drugs favorably from natural sources. The present study aimed at evaluating the anti-Trichomonas effect of essential oil and that of nano-emulsion of Rosmarinus officinalis on the growth of Trichomonas vaginalis (T. vaginalis) in vitro.
Materials and methods: T. vaginalis reference strains were cultured in modified TYM medium. The components of rosemary essential oil were determined by gas chromatography. In addition, cytotoxicity effects of essential oils and nano-emulsions prepared from this plant were evaluated against macrophage cell line (J774.A.1). Serial concentrations of 10, 25, 50, and 100 (μg/mL) were prepared from rosemary essential oil and nano-emulsion. Then growth inhibition rate of the parasites in different concentrations was done in triplicate within 1, 2, and 3 hours.
Results: Rosemary essential oil and nano-emulsion had an inhibitory effect on the growth of Trichomonas and concentration of 100 μg/mL showed growth inhibition effect of 96.1% and 100% throughout 1,2 and 3 hours, respectively. Additionally, cytotoxicity assay against macrophage revealed no toxicity on the cells at 100 μg/mL.
Conclusion: According to the suitable anti-trichomonas activity of rosemary, this plant could be considered as a good candidate in treatment of Trichomonas infection, after complementary studies on animal model.