Trypanocidal Activity of Dysphania ambrosioides, Lippia alba, and Tetradenia riparia Essential Oils against Trypanosoma cruzi

Despite the current treatments against Chagas Disease (CD), this vector‐borne parasitic disease remains a serious public health concern. In this study, we have explored the in vitro and/or in vivo trypanocidal and cytotoxic activities of the essential oils (EOs) obtained from Dysphania ambrosioides (L.) Mosyakin & Clemants (Amaranthaceae) (DA‐EO), Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E. Brown (Verbenaceae) (LA‐EO), and Tetradenia riparia (Hochst.) Codd (Lamiaceae) (TR‐EO) grown in Brazil Southeast. DA‐EO was the most active against the trypomastigote and amastigote forms in vitro; the IC50 values were 8.7 and 12.2 μg mL−1, respectively. The EOs displayed moderate toxicity against LLCMK2 cells, but the DA‐EO showed high selectivity index (SI) for trypomastigote (SI=33.2) and amastigote (SI=11.7) forms. Treatment with 20 mg/kg DA‐EO, LA‐EO, or TR‐EO for 20 days by intraperitoneal administration reduced parasitemia by 6.36 %, 4.74 %, and 32.68 % on day 7 and by 12.04 %, 27.96 %, and 65.5 % on day 9. These results indicated that DA‐EO, LA‐EO, and TR‐EO have promising trypanocidal potential in vitro, whereas TR‐EO has also potential trypanocidal effects in vivo.