Evaluation of the hydroalcoholic extract of as an antiparasitic agent: an in vitro approach.

Unlabelled: Ruiz & Pav is a neotropical species found in humid forests from southern Mexico to southern Brazil. There are few studies related to the ethnopharmacological use of . Our objective was to evaluate the hydroalcoholic extract of as a potential antiparasitic agent. For this, we performed in vitro assays against strains of , , and . At the same time, immunomodulatory activity tests were carried out. The results demonstrated that the extract was able to stimulate and activate immune cells. In preliminary antiparasitic tests, structural modifications were observed in the promastigote form of and in adult worms of The extract was able to inhibit the growth of trypomastigote form of and finally showed low antiparasitic activity against strains of . It is pioneering work and these results demonstrate that extract is a promising alternative and contributes to the arsenal of possible forms of treatment to combat parasites.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03799-2.