Effects of extracts from Echinacea purpurea (L) MOENCH on mice infected with different strains of Toxoplasma gondii.

In recent years, due to the growing concern about recurrent epidemics by Toxoplasma gondii and other pathogens in Brazil, there has been an increase in the use of different preparations obtained from Echinacea purpurea in order to test their effectiveness against these infections. Although studies have suggested the beneficial effects of this species against the influenza virus, no data are available on the use of E. purpurea aqueous extract in T. gondii infections. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyze the effect of its administration in Swiss mice submitted to acute and prolonged infection with different T. gondii strains. This study showed that E. purpurea extract induced a significant reduction in the number of tachyzoites in the peritoneal fluid and liver imprints from mice infected by the RH strain. Moreover, prolonged treatment significantly increased the number of brain cysts of animals infected with ME 49 strain. The results obtained in this study suggest that the crude extract obtained from E. purpurea has important protective activities against infection with different T. gondii strains.