Preliminary clinical evaluation of the antiparasite effect of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni (ka`a he ê) in adults and children
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18004/Keywords:
Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, Intestinal parasitic disease, Children, Adult, Protozoan, HelmintsAbstract
Intestinal parasitic diseases are mainly observed among children and immunocompromized adults. The current treatments are usually effective, but the occurrence of resistance demands the search for new drugs. The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni as an antiparasitic agent. For this purpose a randomized, single blind clinical assay was performed, including 22 adults and 134 children (6-18 years of age), all of them with intestinal parasites, either protozoans and/or helmints. The treatments consisted in pharmaceutical commercial preparations of S. rebaudiana leaves (SRB) or mebendazole-tinidazole (MBZ-TNZ). At baseline evaluation of the 134 children involved, 113 (99,3%) revealed the presence of protozoans, and 28 (20,8%) helmints, mostly as coinfections. S. rebaudiana reduced the frequency of protozoan infection in children (74,5%) when compared to the conventional treatment with MBZ-TNZ (40,7%) (p<0,001). SRB also reduced the frequency of infection by helmints by 70,6%, similarly as MBZTNZ (p>0,05). There were not reported adverse effects among treated children. SRB and MBZ-TNZ treatments showed similar efficacy in adults reducing infections of protozoans and helmints, but the number of adverse events reported for the MBZ-TNZ treatment was significantly more frequent than SRB (p<0,02). These results encourage us to continue the evaluation of SRB as a potential antiparasitic agent.
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