Antiprotozoal Activity of Essential Oils

In the present scenario of protozoal infections, new drugs are urgently needed to treat and control infections such as malaria, sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and intestinal 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 20 years. The data analyzed indicate that 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.