Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Abbasya, Egypt.
Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Abbasya, Egypt.
Acta Trop. 2023 Mar;239:106823. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2023.106823. Epub 2023 Jan 3.
Treatment of chronic toxoplasmosis is challenging as the available drugs are effective only in the acute stage. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate Nigella sativa oil (NSO) and wheat germ oil (WGO) loaded on copper-benzene tricarboxylic acid metal organic framework (Cu-BTC MOF) for treating chronic toxoplasmosis in a murine model. Eighty mice were divided into 8 groups (G); uninfected untreated negative control (GI), infected untreated positive control (GII), infected and treated with: Spiramycin (GIII), Spiramycin@Cu-BTC (GIV), Cu-BTC (GV), WGO@Cu-BTC (GVI), NSO@Cu-BTC (GVII) and combined WGO+NSO@Cu-BTC (GVIII). The infected groups were orally inoculated with 10 Toxoplasma gondii Me49 strain cysts/mouse. All drugs were orally administered for 14 consecutive days starting 8 weeks post-infection (wpi). The therapeutic efficacy was evaluated by parasitological (survival rate of mice and brain cyst burden) and histopathological (brain, liver, kidney, eye) parameters. At the end of 2-weeks therapy, the highest therapeutic outcome was achieved with GVII and GVIII exhibiting 100% survival, 64.3% and 51.4% reduction of brain cysts, and an apparent amendment of pathological insults. In the next place was GVI with 90% survival, 49.5% reduction of cysts and marked amelioration of pathological lesions. Meanwhile, GIII and GIV showed 80% survival, 42.4% and 41.8% reduction of cysts as well as minimal to moderate alleviation of tissue damage. The lowest effect was obtained with GV resulting in 70% survival and 24.4% reduction of cysts. The current results support the assertion that the new metal-based nanocomposites can be promising remedies of chronic toxoplasmosis particularly if conjugated with natural herbal extracts as NSO and WGO.
治疗慢性弓形体病具有挑战性，因为现有的药物仅在急性阶段有效。因此，本研究旨在研究负载黑种草籽油（NSO）和小麦胚芽油（WGO）的铜-苯三甲酸金属有机骨架（Cu-BTC MOF）在治疗慢性弓形体病的鼠模型中的应用。将 80 只小鼠分为 8 组（G）；未感染未治疗的阴性对照组（GI），感染未治疗的阳性对照组（GII），感染并治疗的组：螺旋霉素（GIII），螺旋霉素@Cu-BTC（GIV），Cu-BTC（GV），WGO@Cu-BTC（GVI），NSO@Cu-BTC（GVII）和联合 WGO+NSO@Cu-BTC（GVIII）。感染组经口接种 10 个弓形体 Me49 株囊包/只鼠。所有药物均在感染后 8 周（wpi）开始连续 14 天经口给药。通过寄生虫学（小鼠存活率和脑囊包负担）和组织病理学（脑、肝、肾、眼）参数评估治疗效果。在 2 周治疗结束时，GVII 和 GVIII 组获得了最高的治疗效果，其存活率为 100%，脑囊包减少了 64.3%和 51.4%，病理学损伤明显改善。其次是 GVI 组，存活率为 90%，囊包减少了 49.5%，组织病理学病变明显改善。同时，GIII 和 GIV 组的存活率为 80%，囊包减少了 42.4%和 41.8%，组织损伤得到了最小到中度的缓解。效果最低的是 GV 组，其存活率为 70%，囊包减少了 24.4%。目前的结果支持这样一种说法，即新型基于金属的纳米复合材料可能是慢性弓形体病的有前途的治疗方法，特别是如果与天然草药提取物（如黑种草籽油和小麦胚芽油）结合使用。
