Japhet Senyo Kamasah (Montgomery, AL / US), Kaya Black (New Orleans, LA / US), Nicholas R. Haas (Martin, TN / US), Nur E. Alam (Montgomery, AL / US), Homa Nath Sharma (Montgomery, AL / US), Professor Komal Vig (Montgomery, AL / US), Professor Robert L. Green (Montgomery, AL / US), Professor Daniel A. Abugri (Montgomery, AL / US)
Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is the causative agent of congenital and ocular toxoplasmosis in humans. Fewer drugs are available for the treatment of parasite infection; however, they have serious drawbacks making their use limited. Thus, necessitated the search for new compounds that can inhibit the parasite in vitro and in vivo. Here, we report the anti-T. gondii activity of different solvent fractionates obtained from blueberry in vitro. Interestingly, all fractions exhibited optimal T. gondii growth inhibition at 72 hours of interaction. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) for fractions obtained using the combination of Chloroform, Methanol and water, Hexane and Diethyl ether, Ethyl acetate, Dichloromethane and 1-propanol, Ethyl acetate and Hexane, and Chloroform only were 3.29, 41.45, 7.11, 24.91, and 0.34 µg/mL respectively. These fractions' IC50s for parasites were not toxic to host cells. We therefore believed that the fraction contained bioactive compounds that could be separated for future in vitro and in vivo studies for the development of anti-toxoplasma agents.