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. 2019 Jan 16;12(1):37.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-019-3296-z.

Evaluation of the in vitro and in vivo inhibitory effect of thymoquinone on piroplasm parasites

Shimaa Abd El-Salam El-Sayed  1   2 , Mohamed Abdo Rizk  1   3 , Naoaki Yokoyama  1 , Ikuo Igarashi  4
Affiliations

Evaluation of the in vitro and in vivo inhibitory effect of thymoquinone on piroplasm parasites

Shimaa Abd El-Salam El-Sayed et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Background: Developing new antibabesial drugs with a low toxic effect to the animal and with no resistance from Babesia parasites is in urgent demand. In this concern, the antimalarial, anticancer and antioxidant effect of thymoquinone (TQ), a phytochemical compound found in the plant Nigella sativa, has been reported. Therefore, in the present study, the antibabesial effect of this compound was evaluated on the growth of piroplasm parasites.

Results: Significant inhibition (P < 0.05) of the in vitro growth of piroplasm parasites were observed after treatment by TQ with IC50 values of 35.41 ± 3.60, 7.35 ± 0.17, 0.28 ± 0.016, 74.05 ± 4.55 and 67.33 ± 0.94 μM for Babesia bovis, Babesia bigemina, Babesia divergens, Theileria equi and Babesia caballi, respectively. The in vitro inhibitory effect of TQ was significantly enhanced (P < 0.05) when used in combination with either diminazene aceturate on bovine Babesia and equine Babesia and Theileria cultures. In B. microti-infected mice, oral and intraperitoneal administrations of TQ showed significant (P < 0.05) inhibition of parasite growth at a dose of 70 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg, respectively, compared to the control group.

Conclusions: The obtained results indicate that thymoquinone might be a promising medicinal compound for use in the treatment of animal piroplasmosis.

Keywords: Babesia; In vitro; In vivo; Theileria; Thymoquinone.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All experimental protocols in this study were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (approval no. 27–65).

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Inhibitory effect of diminazene aceturate, thymoquinone, and a combination therapy of both drugs on the growth of Babesia microti. a Oral administration of TQ. b Intraperitoneal administration of TQ. Each value represents the mean ± standard deviation of five mice per experimental group after subtracting the background fluorescence for non-parasitized RBCs from uninfected mice. Asterisks indicate significant differences (P < 0.05) between treated and control mice. Gain values are set to 100. Abbreviations: TQ, thymoquinone; DA, diminazene aceturate; SC, subcutaneous administration; IP, intraperitoneal administration
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
RBC counts in mice treated with thymoquinone. a Oral administration of TQ. b Intraperitoneal administration of TQ. Each value represents the mean ± standard deviation of five mice per experimental group. Asterisks indicate a significant difference (P < 0.05) between treated or infected mice and uninfected mice. Abbreviations: TQ, thymoquinone; DA, diminazene aceturate; SC, subcutaneous administration; IP, intraperitoneal administration
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