{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T19:51:52Z","timestamp":1788551512161,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,18]],"date-time":"2021-02-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1613606400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002858","name":"China Postdoctoral Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002858","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cell Dev. Biol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Toxoplasmosis is a global zoonotic disease, and one-third of the human population is chronically infected by <jats:italic>Toxoplasma gondii<\/jats:italic>. Due to the limited effectiveness and prominent side effects of the existing drugs, there is a dire need for the discovery of new therapeutic options in the treatment of toxoplasmosis. In this study, five essential oils (EO) were screened for their anti-parasitic activity against <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic>. The cytotoxicity of essential oils was evaluated using the MTT assay on human foreskin fibroblast cells. The CC<jats:sub>50<\/jats:sub> values of <jats:italic>Eucalyptus globulus<\/jats:italic> EO, <jats:italic>Cupressus sempervirens<\/jats:italic> EO, <jats:italic>Citrus aurantifolia<\/jats:italic> EO, <jats:italic>Melaleuca alternifolia<\/jats:italic> EO, and <jats:italic>Pelargonium X. asperum (Pa)<\/jats:italic> EO were found to be 22.74, 7.25, 15.01, 6.26, and 4.77 mg\/mL, respectively. Only <jats:italic>Pa<\/jats:italic>EO exhibited anti-parasitic activity, and inhibited the growth of <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, treatment with <jats:italic>Pa<\/jats:italic>EO, was found to reduce the volume of <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> tachyzoites and make their membrane surfaces rough. These results showed that <jats:italic>Pa<\/jats:italic>EO was able to inhibit the growth of <jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> by reducing invasion, which may be due to its detrimental effect on the ability of tachyzoites to move. These findings suggest that <jats:italic>Pa<\/jats:italic>EO could be a potential anti-<jats:italic>T. gondii<\/jats:italic> drug, which may facilitate the development of new and effective treatments against toxoplasmosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcell.2021.616340","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,20]],"date-time":"2021-02-20T14:00:04Z","timestamp":1613829604000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["In vitro Anti-parasitic Activity of Pelargonium X. asperum Essential Oil Against Toxoplasma gondii"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Si-Yang","family":"Huang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Na","family":"Yao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jia-Kang","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ming","family":"Pan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhao-Feng","family":"Hou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yi-Min","family":"Fan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aifang","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jian-Ping","family":"Tao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,2,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"443","DOI":"10.1590\/0074-02760160075","article-title":"Larvicidal activity of Syzygium aromaticum (L.) 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