Hagras Nancy Abd-Elkader, Hegab Fatma, Atta Shimaa, Gadallah Reham A, Elsayed Youssef, Khodear Gehan A M
Medical School Program and Pharmacy Program, Alexandria National University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Alexandria University Hospitals, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2025 Jul 18;19(7):e0013239. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0013239. eCollection 2025 Jul.
Trichinellosis is a ubiquitous parasitic infection caused by a zoonotic nematode known as Trichinella spiralis (T. spiralis). It starts with the adult worm in the intestinal phase and ends up with the larva reaching the muscles. The disease generally manifests with acute gastroenteritis; however, it may regrettably lead to life-threatening myositis, myocarditis and seizures. The commercially existing chemotherapeutic regimens have numerous drawbacks including severe adverse effects, high resistance rate, poor bioavailability and low efficiency towards the muscular stage. Consequently, the current study targeted the evaluation of nitazoxanide-loaded zinc oxide nanoparticles (NTZ-loaded ZnO NPs) used for the first time in the treatment of both the intestinal and muscular phases of trichinellosis in mice. Swiss Albino mice were orally infected by 250 T. spiralis larvae. The experimental animals were treated with the gold standard albendazole, NTZ, ZnO NPs as well as NTZ-loaded ZnO NPs. Parasitological, biochemical (creatine kinase, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, malondialdehyde and nitric oxide), immunological (interleukins 2 and 4) and histopathological assessments were conducted. The parasitological results denoted that the mice treated with NTZ-loaded ZnO NPs revealed the uppermost significant drug efficacy (>97%) in both the intestinal and muscular phases indicating efficacious tissue penetration. Additionally, this group revealed the most profound amelioration of the biochemical and immunological markers as well as restoration of the histopathological picture. Conclusively, the present work implied a bird's eye view on the promising effectiveness of NTZ-loaded ZnO NPs in the treatment of murine trichinellosis relying on the anti-parasitic safe nature of the formulation.
旋毛虫病是一种由人畜共患线虫旋毛虫引起的普遍存在的寄生虫感染。它始于肠道阶段的成虫,最终幼虫到达肌肉。该疾病通常表现为急性肠胃炎;然而,遗憾的是,它可能导致危及生命的肌炎、心肌炎和癫痫发作。现有的商业化疗方案有许多缺点,包括严重的不良反应、高耐药率、低生物利用度以及对肌肉阶段的低效性。因此,本研究旨在评估首次用于治疗小鼠旋毛虫病肠道和肌肉阶段的载硝唑尼特氧化锌纳米颗粒(NTZ负载的ZnO NPs)。瑞士白化小鼠经口感染250条旋毛虫幼虫。实验动物分别用金标准阿苯达唑、硝唑尼特、ZnO NPs以及载硝唑尼特氧化锌纳米颗粒进行治疗。进行了寄生虫学、生化(肌酸激酶、谷丙转氨酶、谷草转氨酶、碱性磷酸酶、丙二醛和一氧化氮)、免疫学(白细胞介素2和4)和组织病理学评估。寄生虫学结果表明,用载硝唑尼特氧化锌纳米颗粒治疗的小鼠在肠道和肌肉阶段均显示出最高的显著药物疗效(>97%),表明其具有有效的组织穿透性。此外,该组在生化和免疫标志物方面的改善最为显著,组织病理学图像也得到恢复。总之,本研究基于该制剂的抗寄生虫安全性,对载硝唑尼特氧化锌纳米颗粒在治疗小鼠旋毛虫病方面的潜在有效性进行了全面观察。
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