Background: The currently available therapeutics for treatment of toxoplasmosis are associated with
various adverse effects, highlighting the urgent need for development of safer, more tolerable and costeffective
medications for treatment of such a disease. These properties can be properly afforded by natural
compounds.
Objective: The purpose of the current work was to assess the efficacy of cumin seed oil (CSO) in the
treatment of acute toxoplasmosis in mice models.
Material and Methods: The total phenol and flavonoid contents of CSO were estimated using Folin_
Ciocalteu assay and aluminum trichloride reaction, respectively. The CSO was orally administered at a
dose of 5 ml/kg/d, starting 24 h post infection (PI) and continued for five consecutive days. In comparison
to SeptrinTM, the therapeutic effectiveness was assessed using the following parameters: parasitological
(animal survival, parasite burden, viability, and infectivity), ultrastructural (scanning electron microscopy,
SEM), immunological (serum tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNF-α), and histopathological (liver, spleen,
and brain).
Results: The total phenol and flavonoid contents of CSO were 84.65±0.22 mg gallic acid equivalents
/g (GAE/g) and 52.08±0.18 mg quercetin equivalent/g (QE/g), respectively. Both SeptrinTM and CSO
markedly improved the animal survival and reduced the parasite burdens in different specimens. They
significantly deteriorated tachyzoite viability and infectivity. In CSO-treated mice, distorted crescentshaped
tachyzoites, deep depressions, membrane pores and huge vesicular swellings were detected by
SEM. The immunological study showed that treatment with either SeptrinTM or CSO obviously decreased
TNF-α, substantially reduced the necro-inflammatory reaction, and subsequently ameliorated the
histopathologic changes in different organs.
Conclusion: The evidences gathered herein support that CSO may be useful as a safe, natural therapy
for acute toxoplasmosis considering both the anti-inflammatory and the anti-Toxoplasma properties.
However, the mode of antiprotozoal action of the oil components should be further investigated.