Aly Ibrahim, Elawamy Waleed E, Hamza Hanan T, El-Wahsh Hany M, El-Bahiry Ahmed, Matter Amira, Bakr Lamia I
Parasitology Department, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt.
Department of Pathology (Microbiology Unit), College of Medicine, Jouf University, 72341, Sakaka, Aljouf, Saudi Arabia.
Acta Parasitol. 2025 May 16;70(3):105. doi: 10.1007/s11686-025-01022-1.
The current study was to evaluate the immunomodulatory impact of either lactoferrin (LF), lactoferrin nanocapsule (LF-NC), or lactoferrin conjugation with nanazoxid (NZ). Moreover, identifying drugs can effectively eliminate and successfully treat the infection with Cryptosporidium.
Sixty male Swiss albino mice were divided into six groups, each of 10 mice. G1 served as the control, and G2 was inoculated with 10 oocysts. Mice were orally administered NZ (200 mg/kg b.wt.), LF (150 µg/kg b.wt.), or LF-NC (150 mg/kg b.wt./day) for a period of six days post-infection. The immunomodulatory potential and drug efficacy were assessed by fecal and intestinal oocyst counts, measuring antioxidant activities and cytokine levels in addition. Intestinal tissues were examined histopathologically.
The cytokines TGF-β, INF-γ, and IL-10 were increased during infection and decreased following therapy. Mutually, the quantity of pathological lesions and oocysts in the ileal tissues was significantly diminished with the NZ plus LF-NC treatment. In addition, a considerable reduction of both fecal and intestinal samples, as well as a notable deterioration in oocyst counts, suggested that treatment with NZ alone or in combination with LF-NC was more effective.
LF or LF-NC was found to exert a potent immunomodulatory effect on infected mice as well as minimize pathological lesions. This therapy approaches a successful therapeutic alternative for the treatment of cryptosporidiosis with few adverse effects.
本研究旨在评估乳铁蛋白（LF）、乳铁蛋白纳米胶囊（LF-NC）或乳铁蛋白与纳扎氧化合物（NZ）结合物的免疫调节作用。此外，确定能有效消除并成功治疗隐孢子虫感染的药物。
将60只雄性瑞士白化小鼠分为6组，每组10只。G1组作为对照组，G2组接种10个卵囊。感染后6天，给小鼠口服NZ（200毫克/千克体重）、LF（150微克/千克体重）或LF-NC（150毫克/千克体重/天）。通过粪便和肠道卵囊计数评估免疫调节潜力和药物疗效，此外还测量抗氧化活性和细胞因子水平。对肠道组织进行组织病理学检查。
感染期间细胞因子TGF-β、INF-γ和IL-10升高，治疗后降低。相反，NZ加LF-NC治疗使回肠组织中的病理损伤数量和卵囊数量显著减少。此外，粪便和肠道样本数量大幅减少，卵囊计数显著下降，表明单独使用NZ或与LF-NC联合使用的治疗更有效。
发现LF或LF-NC对感染小鼠具有强大的免疫调节作用，并能使病理损伤最小化。这种治疗方法是治疗隐孢子虫病的一种成功的治疗选择，且副作用较少。
