[01] Wafaa M. Hikal, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia; Parasitology Lab., Water Pollution Researches Department, National Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt. [02] Hussein A. H. Said-Al Ahl, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Researches Department, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Plants and essential oils are used in traditional medicine against parasitic diseases. This review highlights their potential of essential oil as a source of new anti-parasitic compounds. In the present scenario of protozoal infections, new drugs are urgently needed to treat and control infections, which affect millions of people each year. In this review, we are focusing on articles related to antiprotozoal essential oils extracted from plants that have been published during the last years. Essential oils could be promising antiprotozoal agents, opening perspectives to the discovery of more effective drugs of vegetal origin for the treatment of diseases caused by protozoa.

Essential oils, Parasite, Cryptosporidiosis

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