Chemical composition, antischistosomal and cytotoxic effects of the essential oil of Lavandula angustifolia grown in Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

This paper reports on the chemical composition, the in vitro antischistosomal effects, and the cytotoxicity of the essential oil from the leaves of Lavandula angustifolia Mill., Lamiaceae, grown in the Southeastern Brazil. Borneol (22.4%), epi-α-muurolol (13.4%), α-bisabolol (13.1%), precocene I (13.0%), and eucalyptol (7.9%) were the major essential oil constituents. Incubation with essential oil at 200μg/ml killed all the adult S. mansoni worms after 24h (LC50 117.7 and 103.9μg/ml at 24 and 120h of incubation, respectively). At a concentration of 50μg/ ml, the essential oil significantly decreased the motor activity and reduced the percentage of egg development after 120h. In addition, the essential oil separated all the coupled S. mansoni worm pairs into individual male and female at 25 and 50μg/ml within 120 and 24h, respectively. This oil was cytotoxic to GM07492-A cells at only concentrations higher than 200μg/ml (IC50 243.7μg/ml). These data indicate that LA-EO exhibits moderate in vitro activity against adult S. mansoni and exerts remarkable effects on eggs development.