| Autor: |
Barakat AM; Department of Zoonotic Diseases, National Research Centre, El Buhouth St., Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt., Fadaly HAME; Department of Zoonotic Diseases, National Research Centre, El Buhouth St., Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt., Gareh A; Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aswan University, Aswan 24101, Egypt., Abd El-Razik KA; Department of Animal Reproduction, Veterinary Research Institute, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt., Ali FAZ; Department of Pathology and Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag 82524, Egypt., Saleh AA; Department of Human Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt., Sadek SAS; Department of Zoonotic Diseases, National Research Centre, El Buhouth St., Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt., Dahran N; Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21959, Saudi Arabia., El-Gendy AEG; Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research Department, Pharmaceutical and Drug Industries Research Institute, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza 12622, Egypt., El-Khadragy MF; Department of biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia., Elmahallawy EK; Department of Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag 82524, Egypt. |
| Abstrakt: |
Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic zoonotic disease with a worldwide distribution. Its effects can be critical in immunocompromised patients. However, there is a limited availability of effective, low-toxicity drugs against this disease, particularly in its chronic form. The present study evaluated the effect of propolis and wheat germ oil (WGO) as safe, natural products to reduce Toxoplasma cysts in experimentally infected mice. For the experiment, five groups (10 mice per group) were examined: Group 1: negative control (noninfected, nontreated); Group 2: positive control (infected, nontreated); Group 3: infected and treated with WGO at a dose of 0.2 mg/1.5 mL per kg body weight/day; Group 4: infected and treated with 0.1 mL propolis extract/day; and Group 5: infected and treated with a combination of WGO and propolis at the same doses as Group 3 and 4. After the mice were sacrificed, liver and lung specimens underwent histopathological examination, and the parasite burden was investigated by parasitological methods and quantified using real-time polymerase chain reaction. Notably, the results showed a substantial decrease in parasitic burden in Group 5 compared to the control group. These results were further confirmed by molecular analysis and quantification of the DNA concentration of the Toxoplasma P29 gene after treatment in all tested samples. Furthermore, the combination of propolis and WGO restored all histopathological changes in the liver and lungs. Taken together, these findings provide remarkably promising evidence of the effects of the combination of WGO and propolis against chronic toxoplasmosis in mice. |
