Inhibitory effect of terpene nerolidol on the growth of Babesia parasites

Nerolidol is a sesquiterpene present in the essential oils of many plants, approved by the U.S. FDA as a food flavoring agent. Nerolidol interferes with the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway in the apicoplast of P. falciparum. In the present study, the in vitro growth of four Babesia species was significantly (P<0.05) inhibited in the presence of nerolidol (IC(50)s values=21+/-1, 29.6+/-3, 26.9+/-2, and 23.1+/-1microM for B. bovis, B. bigemina, B. ovata, and B. caballi, respectively). Parasites from treated cultures failed to grow in the subsequent viability test at a concentration of 50microM. Nerolidol significantly (P<0.05) inhibited the growth of B. microti at the dosage of 10 and 100mg/kg BW, while the inhibition was low compared with the high doses used. Therefore, nerolidol could not be used as a chemotherapeutic drug for babesiosis.