Curcumin vs. Toxoplasma gondii: A Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Blueprint for Anti-Parasitic Target Identification

Introduction: Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii and affects nearly one third of the world population. Current therapies cannot eradicate chronic tissue cysts and have serious side effects. Several studies confirmed that curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, may have anti toxoplasmosis activities. However, its exact molecular targets are not still discovered.

Methods: We used network pharmacology to identify common targets between curcumin and host responses to T. gondii in human. A protein protein interaction network was constructed by STRING and the key hub proteins were identified using Cytoscape. Molecular docking of curcumin with the ATP binding pocket of AKT1 was performed using Schrödinger Glide in extra precision (XP) mode.

Results: The overlap resulted in 27 common proteins, three of which¬¬ demonstrated the highest level of connectivity: AKT1, MMP9, and TNF. AKT1 was chosen as the most suitable target for docking due to its biological relevance and safety. Curcumin bound favorably to AKT1 with the best pose achieving a docking score of −4.412 kcal/mol and an E model of −59.380 kcal/mol. The review of preclinical evidence confirmed that curcumin and its nanoformulations decrease tachyzoite and brain cyst loads, modulate inflammation and oxidative stress, and also improve survival rates in animal models.

Conclusions: Curcumin is a safe, multi target agent that has shown promising anti-toxoplasmosis effects in both acute and chronic phases. In this study, AKT1 is identified as one of the best key host directed targets. In combination with conventional drugs or advanced delivery systems, curcumin may resolve the limitations of existing therapies.