Antiparasitic activity of aqueous extract of Anethum graveolens against Entamoeba histolytica: In vitro and in vivo study

Abstract Amebic liver abscess is one of the most dangerous extraintestinal amebiasis caused by Entamoeba histolytica. The most dangerous problem in it is that until now there are no effective drugs for it. This study evaluated the antiamoebic activity of dill extract as a promising agent for hepatoprotection against liver abscess. In vitro studies involved serial dilutions of the extract at final concentrations of 300, 250, 200, 150, 100, 50, 25, and 12.5 mg/ml, Metronidazole (200 mg/ml) was applied as a positive control. In vivo studies in which mice were given orally 1 ml from dill extraction (12.5 mg/ml) once a day for two weeks. In vitro study, all concentrations caused 100% mortality after 72 h compared with the metronidazole (-ve control) which caused approximately 89% mortality. In vivo observed that after the sixth day there aren't any cysts & trophozoites in the faces of the group given dill extract; in addition, values of ALT, AST, ALP, ALB, T.P, cholesterol, triglyceride, liver tissue MDA, SOD, and CAT returned nearly to the healthy group. Also, liver content of NF-κB and IL-1β was reduced in the dill extract-treated group. These results show for the first time that dill extract can be used as an antiamoebic effect in the liver, suggesting that its daily use could help greatly decrease the incidence of this type of infection.