Method: The stem powder of T. crispa was soaked in absolute ethanol for 72 hours. The resulting ethanolic extract was screened for the presence of phytochemicals. Vero cells monolayer in 96-well plate was infected with RH strain of T. gondii and treated with concentrations of the EETC, Veratrine alkaloid, and clindamycin ranging from 1.56 to 200 μg/mL. MTT assay was conducted after 24 hours to evaluate the cytotoxicity and antiparasitic activities of the EETC. Four and 24 hours treatment models were adapted to assess the infection index and intracellular proliferation of T.
Results: The study revealed that the EETC had no cytotoxic effects on Vero cells with IC50 = 179 μg/mL, as compared to clindamycin (IC50 = 116.5 μg/mL) and Veratrine alkaloid (IC50 = 60.4 μg/mL). The EETC had good anti-toxoplasma activities with IC50 = 6.31 μg/mL in comparison with clindamycin (IC50 = 8.33 μg/mL) and Veratrine alkaloid (IC50 = 14.25 μg/mL). The EETC caused more than 70% and 80% reduction in infection index and intracellular proliferation in both treatment models, respectively.
Conclusion: This in vitro study showed that the EETC contains promising phytochemicals effective against T. gondii and safe to the host cells.
Experimental procedure: Thirty six virgin adult female rats (n = 6) were randomly divided into six groups; Group 1-3 were normal control (NC), Sham (SHAM) and ovariectomized group (OVX) respectively whereas group 4-6 were PPD rats forced-fed once daily with distilled water (PPD), fish oil (PPD + FO; 9 g/kg) and Fluoxetine (PPD + FLX; 15 mg/kg) respectively from postpartum day 1 and continued for 10 consecutive days. Rats behaviors were evaluated on postpartum day 10 through open field test (OFT) and forced swimming test (FST), followed by biochemical analysis of NLRP3 inflammasome proteins pathway in their brain and determination of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR).
Results: PPD-induced rats exhibited high immobility and low swimming time in FST with increased inflammatory status; NLR, IL-1β and NFкB/NLRP3/caspase-1 activity in their hippocampus. However, administration of FO or fluoxetine reversed the aforementioned abnormalities.
Conclusion: In conclusion, 10 days supplementation with FO ameliorated the depressive-like behaviors in PPD rats by targeting the NFкB/NLRP3/caspase-1/IL-1β activity. This has shed light on the potential of NLRP3 as a therapeutic target in treatment of PPD in rats.