Molecular, Physiological and Pathological Studies on the Effect of Some Natural Products on Male Albino Rats Experimentally Infected with Cryptosporidium spp.

Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of ethanolic (EEP) and water (WEP) extracts of propolis and garlic oil (GO) against Cryptosporidium spp. in vitro (infectivity test). Also, the therapeutic effect of EEP and WEP were assessed in vivo (immunosuppressed rat model). The effects of EEP and WEP on hematological and some biochemical parameters in immunosuppressed rats infected with Cryptosporidium spp. were also investigated. Moreover, the antioxidant/oxidant status in ileum as well as histopathological examination of the vital organs of Cryptosporidium infected rats treated with EEP and WEP were recorded. The obtained results were compared with that of nitazoxanide (NTZ) which was used as a commercial standard drug for treatment of cryptosporidiosis. Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts were isolated from faecal samples of neonatal calves, propagated in goat kids, purified by discontinuous sucrose gradients and stored in 2.5% potassium dichromate at 4C. Ethanolic (EEP) and water (WEP) extracts of propolis were prepared. Their antioxidant activities were measured in vitro using DPPH radical scavenging assay. Furthermore, garlic oil (GO) was prepared by water distillation. Both ethanolic and water propolis extracts showed DPPH radical scavenging activities. The highest antioxidant activity was observed for WEP (86.63%) at concentration 2 mg/ml. Summary and Conclusions

188 The infectivity of Cryptosporidium oocysts pre-suspended in different concentrations (6.25, 25 and 50 mg/ml) of EEP, WEP and GO was evaluated in immunosuppressed mice. The efficacy of GO was not effective enough against Cryptosporidium oocysts in vitro to apply it in subsequent experiments. One hundred and eighty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into nine equal groups, each of 20 rats. Rats in groups I, II and III, served as normal, immunosuppressed and infected control, respectively. In groups V, VI, VIII and XI, EEP and WEP were administered at a dose of 50 mg/kg BW to groups of infected rats with different regimes. Nitazoxanide was administered to infected rats at a dose of 100 mg/kg BW (Groups; IV and VII). At the 15th day post infection (dpi), blood was collected from all groups for assessment of some hematological and biochemical parameters. Antioxidant enzymes activities and the levels of reduced glutathione and GST-Pi1 mRNA were measured in ileum.