The Antiprotozoal Profile of Trichomonas Vaginalis, Isolated From Susceptible Women, to the Extracts of Jatropha Curcas Plant

For a long time, plants have provided a source of emerging modern medicine and drug compounds, as plant-derived medicines have made large contributions to human health. Trichomonads were identified, the phytochemical constituents of two extracts and their anti-protozoal efficacy were also determined. Both the trophozoite and amoeboid forms of Trachomonas vaginalis were positively identified from the vaginal swab samples collected for the investigation. From the wet-mount smears of the volunteers, the presence of the trichomonads in the midst of epithelial cells, white blood cells and red blood cells was confirmed and quantified. Only twenty-eight (28%) volunteers tested negative for the presence of Trachomonas vaginalis protozoan parasite. The parasitic load ranged between 5 and 13 parasites. After the plant’s extracts used in this study were screened to ascertain their purity, there was visibly clear absence of microbial growth which confirmed their purity. Both extracts possessed tannins and terpenoids. While alkaloids were present in the leaf extract, they were, however, absent in the stem extract. At 100% concentration, the microscopic evaluation showed that the inhibitory property of both extracts was not disputable as the trichomonads were all sensitive to the extracts, as demonstrated by their immobilization. The control; without either extract but instead distilled water, showed no anti-protozoal activity. The minimum immobilization concentration of the leaf extract was 90mg/ml while that of the stem extract still stood at 100mg/ml. The study showed that the leaf extract was more effective than the stem extract.