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Urtica dioica Extract Leads to Cyst Reduction, Enhanced Cell-Mediated Immune Response, and Antioxidant Activity in Experimental Toxoplasmosis

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Abstract

Background

Toxoplasmosis is a cosmopolitan parasitic infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii which is commonly treated by pyrimethamine (PYR) plus sulfadiazine (SDZ) with several adverse side effects. The present study evaluated the therapeutic effects of Urtica dioica L. aqueous extract (UDE) on acute and chronic toxoplasmosis in mice.

Methods

For this purpose, mice were infected with 20 cysts (acute infection) or 10 cysts (chronic infection) of T. gondii (Me49 strain). The mice were treated with 200 mg/kg of UDE intraperitoneally (IP) and intragastric route (IG). The UDE-treated mice were compared with the PYR + SDZ treatment. The histopathological changes, cyst count, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA) assay, and serum INF-γ were also evaluated.

Results

In the acute toxoplasmosis, UDE by IP and IG administration significantly reduced the number of brain cysts by 93.74 and 92.55%, respectively, and increased the survival rate to 80% compared with 60% in untreated controls. In the chronic infection, cyst burden decreased at 88.2 and 83.4%, respectively, for IP and IG treatments. Moreover, UDE significantly increased INF- γ levels in acute and chronic toxoplasmosis. Tissue inflammatory lesions were reduced in the UDE-treated subgroups compared to the untreated group. UDE treatment significantly reduced MDA levels and elevated TAC in both acute and chronic infections.

Conclusion

The results show that U. dioica possesses significant immunostimulant and antioxidant activity with a higher cyst reduction in the brain during acute toxoplasmosis. Further studies are required to investigate the fractionations of UDE against T. gondii and its combination with other standard drugs.

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Abbreviations

UDE:

Urtica dioica Extract

IP:

Intraperitoneally

IG:

Intragastric route

CLN:

Clindamycin

PYR:

Pyrimethamine

IFN-γ:

Interferon-γ

TAC:

Total antioxidant capacity

MDA:

Malondialdehyde assay

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

SR:

Survival rate

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Research Council of Babol University of Medical Sciences, for its financial support.

Funding

The present study was supported by the Babol University of Medical Science, Grant 140013325.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Student Research Committee, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

    Ali Peyvandi

  2. Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Ganj-Afroz Ave., Babol, Iran

    Tahmineh Gorgani-Firouzjaee

  3. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

    Hossein Najafzadehvarzi

  4. Department of Mycology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran

    Jalal Jafarzadeh

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Contributions

AP: methodology, investigation. TGF: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing, supervision. HNV: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, resources. JJ: methodology, investigation.

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Correspondence to Tahmineh Gorgani-Firouzjaee.

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None of the authors have declared a conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All experimental trials were conducted according to national institutional guidelines for animal ethics. The current study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Iran (IR.MUBABOL.REC.1400.267).

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Peyvandi, A., Gorgani-Firouzjaee, T., Najafzadehvarzi, H. et al. Urtica dioica Extract Leads to Cyst Reduction, Enhanced Cell-Mediated Immune Response, and Antioxidant Activity in Experimental Toxoplasmosis. Acta Parasit. 68, 880–890 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11686-023-00727-5

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