The effect of lavender essential oil and nanoemulsion on Trichomonas vaginalis in vitro

Background: Trichomonas vaginalis is the cause of trichomoniasis. Due to increased resistance and side effects of the drugs, the aim of this study was to assess an anti-trichomonias effect of lavender (Lavandula officinalis) essential oil and nanoemulsion on T. vaginalis in vitro. Materials and Methods: Lavender essential oil components were characterized by gas chromatography. To determine the cytotoxicity effects, the macrophage cell line J774.A.1 was used. Trichomonas vaginalis was isolated from vaginal secretions of the infected women and then cultured in the TYM complete medium and passaged for 10 days. The effect of essential oil and 1% lavender nanoemulsion in concentrations 10, 25, 50 and 100 μg/mL in the 24-well plate were examined at 1, 2 and 3 hours as triplicate. Positive control was metronidazole (50 μg/mL). The number of live and dead parasites was counted by trypan blue stain with a Neubauer slide. Results: The viability of the macrophages for lavender essential oil was 93.70% and for nanoemulsion was 90.90%. Essential oil and nanoemulsion of lavender in concentration of 100 μg/mL and during 3 hours showed 81.7% and 81.9% growth inhibitory, respectively. This difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: Lavender essential oil and nanoemulsion has a desirable inhibitory effect on growth of T.vaginalis and can be a good choice for conducting therapeutic investigations regarding trichomonial infections.