Abstract
Toxoplasmosis is a cosmopolitan disease caused by an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). The probable correlation between toxoplasmosis and chronic disorders such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension is up challenging and still understood. Several treatments for toxoplasmosis are used but it is poorly tolerated. Herbal plant extracts are widely introduced as a possible source of treatment for several diseases. The present study aimed to assess the prophylactic and therapeutic effect of basil on toxoplasmosis in diabetic and hypertensive mice compared to spiramycin. A total number of 77 mice were divided into control, and basil treated group and the effectiveness of the drugs was measured in both hypertensive and diabetic mice. Parasitological assessment showed that all treated groups showed a statistically significant reduction in the median tissue cysts count compared to infected control groups. Combined (basil and spiramycin) showed the highest reduction rates of T. gondii cysts count in both hypertensive and diabetic groups. Histopathological assessment demonstrated moderate to marked improvement of brain, spleen and kidney inflammation in all treated groups especially the combined treated groups. In conclusion, basil showed promising an antiparasitic effect on toxoplasmosis in hypertensive and diabetic mice. More research are needed, however, to precisely investigate basil's prophylactic and therapeutic effects on chronic toxoplasmosis in both in vitro and in vivo models.