ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Parasitol.
Sec. Epidemiology and Ecology
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpara.2025.1610965
This article is part of the Research TopicBiomolecular Approaches to Trichomoniasis: Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and TreatmentView all 4 articles
Effect of essential oils from Cymbopogon citratus, Citrus grandis, and Mentha arvensis on Trichomonas vaginalis and role of its symbionts Mycoplasma hominis and Ca. Mycoplasma girerdii
Provisionally accepted
Valentina Margarita1
Thi Ha Trinh Nguyen2
Giacomo Luigi Petretto1
Antonella Congiargiu1
Antonietta Ligas1
Nicia Diaz1
Phuong Anh Anh Ton Nu3
Giorgio Pintore1
Paola Rappelli1*- 1University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
- 2Buon Ma Thuot Medical University, Buon Ma Thuot, Vietnam
- 3Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue, Vietnam
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Trichomoniasis, the most common non-viral sexually transmitted disease, is caused by the protozoon Trichomonas vaginalis. T. vaginalis can establish a symbiosis with two bacteria, Mycoplasma hominis and Candidatus Mycoplasma girerdii, whose intracellular presence may modulate several characteristics of the protozoan, including its sensitivity to 5-nitroimidazoles, the only class of drugs currently effective in treating trichomoniasis. The rising prevalence of T.vaginalis strains resistant to metronidazole, the most commonly used antitrichomonal drug, underscores the need for therapeutic alternatives active against the protozoon. In this study, we evaluate the antimicrobial activity of essential oils extracted from three plants cultivated in Vietnam-Cymbopogon citratus, Citrus grandis, and Mentha arvensis-against thirty T. vaginalis strains isolated from symptomatic women in Italy and Vietnam. We also assess the influence of M. hominis and Ca. M. girerdii on T. vaginalis susceptibility to essential oils and metronidazole, through dedicated susceptibility assays. Furthermore, given the importance of lactobacilli in maintaining vaginal health, we investigate the effects of the essential oils on Lactobacillus gasseri and Lactobacillus crispatus. Our results reveal that all three essential oils effectively eliminate T. vaginalis at concentrations that do not affect the growth of lactobacilli. Among them, Cymbopogon citratus essential oil demonstrated the strongest antitrichomonad activity, highlighting its potential as a promising natural therapeutic resource for the development of antitrichomonal drugs. This oil was effective not only against T. vaginalis free isolates but also PAGE \* Arabic \* against those infected with bacterial symbionts, making it a valuable candidate for overcoming challenges related to drug resistance.
Keywords: Trichomonas vaginalis, essential oils, Mycoplasma hominis, Candidatus Mycoplasma girerdii, Cymbopogon citratus, Citrus grandis, Mentha arvensis, lactobacilli
Received: 13 Apr 2025; Accepted: 16 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Margarita, Nguyen, Petretto, Congiargiu, Ligas, Diaz, Ton Nu, Pintore and Rappelli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Paola Rappelli, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
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