Comparative study of the effect of aqueousand alcoholic extract of pomegranate peelon Trichomonas vaginalis in vitro

Trichomoniasis is the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection in the world. Metronidazole is currently used for the treatment of trichomoniasis, which has side effects. In recent years, the use of plants has been considered by researchers. This study was conducted to investigate the anti-trichomonal activity of aqueous and alcoholic extract of pomegranate peel on Trichomonas vaginalis in vitro.

In this experimental study, the extracts were prepared, and to evaluate the effect of aqueous and alcoholic extract of pomegranate peel on Trichomonas vaginalis parasites, the concentrations of 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200 µg/ml were prepared. Metronidazole and TYM medium were considered positive and negative controls, respectively. Afterward, 105 live parasites were added to all wells, and all groups were kept at 37°C. Live parasites were counted at 24 and 48 h intervals by Trypan Blue using a neobar slide microscope (Hemocytometer). Also, the effect of metronidazole (0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 10 µg/ml) was investigated as a drug control. Subsequently, the IC50 value for the above extract was calculated using GraphPad Prism 9. It should be noted that all steps of the experiment were performed in triplicate and the results were considered as average.

The IC50 of aqueous and alcoholic extract of pomegranate peel on Trichomonas vaginalis were calculated at 226.3, 109.9 μg/ml after 24h and 60.16 and 32.6 μg/ml after 48h, respectively. The IC50 of metronidazole was calculated at 0.28 and 0.1 μg/ml after 24h and 48h. The highest mortality rate (100%) was observed at a concentration of 3200 μg/ml after 24h of exposure.

While the aqueous and alcoholic extract of pomegranate peel has an anti-Trichomonas effect, the anti-Trichomonas properties of the alcoholic extract are more than its aqueous extract. Further and more comprehensive studies are suggested to investigate this plant's constituents and the parasite's lethal effect in vitro and in vivo conditions.