Histopathological and biochemical assessment of the therapeutic effect of gold nanoparticles on experimental chronic toxoplasmosis | ||||
| Parasitologists United Journal | ||||
| Article 9, Volume 14, Issue 2, August 2021, Page 171-177 PDF (785.89 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/puj.2021.73358.1117 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
| Manal GabAllah1; Ashraf Barakat2; Noha Ahmed* 1; Nada El-Nadi1 | ||||
| 1Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag | ||||
| 2Zoonotic Diseases Department, National Research Centre, Giza , Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Background: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the intracellular opportunistic protozoan, T. gondii that infects both vertebrate and invertebrate cells. Nanoparticles (NPs) provide promising therapeutic agents for effective treatment of parasitic diseases, by overcoming the drawbacks of low bioavailability and poor cellular permeability of anti-parasitic drugs. Objective: To assess the therapeutic effect of gold (Au) NPs on experimentally infected mice with chronic toxoplasmosis. Material and Methods: Sixty-five laboratory-bred female Swiss albino mice were included. Five mice were left as control negative (non-infected non-treated), while the rest were experimentally infected orally with avirulent T. gondii strain (ME49). Fifty days post infection (pi), infected mice were divided into 4 groups (15 mice each); group 1: control group (infected non-treated); group 2: treated with Spiramycin (Rovamycin); group 3: treated with low-dose AuNPs; and group 4: treated with high-dose AuNPs. Treatment was administered orally for 10 days. All mice were sacrificed sixty days pi. Assessment of the therapeutic effect of AuNPs was achieved using parasitological, histopathological and biochemical parameters. The first included estimation of the parasite tissue cysts numbers and size in impression smears from brain, liver and spleen; histopathological parameters evaluated inflammation, necrosis and hemorrhages in tissues. Liver transaminases: aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were measured in sera of all groups as a biochemical parameter. Results: Statistically significant reductions were observed in the mean cyst count and size in brain, liver, and spleen of the infected treated group with high dose AuNPs (group 4) compared to the other infected groups. Histopathological examination of the brain, liver and spleen tissues showed that inflammatory reaction was decreased in both AuNPs-treated groups in comparison to Spiramycin-treated group and the non-treated mice. There was a significant reduction in the mean values of ALT and AST in mice treated with AuNPs high dose in comparison to other groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: AuNPs have a potentially therapeutic effect especially the high dose against experimental chronic toxoplasmosis. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| avirulent ME49 strain; chronic toxoplasmosis; experimental study; gold nanoparticles; Spiramycin | ||||
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