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. 2022 Jan 20:15:171-182.
doi: 10.2147/IDR.S345789. eCollection 2022.

The Effects of Commercially Available Syzygium aromaticum, Anethum graveolens, Lactobacillus acidophilus LB, and Zinc as Alternatives Therapy in Experimental Mice Challenged with Cryptosporidium parvum

Mona Gaber  1 , Lamia Ahmed A Galal  1 , Haiam Mohamed Mahmoud Farrag  1   2 , Dalia M Badary  3 , Samia S Alkhalil  2 , Nahed Elossily  1
Affiliations

The Effects of Commercially Available Syzygium aromaticum, Anethum graveolens, Lactobacillus acidophilus LB, and Zinc as Alternatives Therapy in Experimental Mice Challenged with Cryptosporidium parvum

Mona Gaber et al. Infect Drug Resist. .

Abstract

Background: Waterborne cryptosporidiosis is the second cause of diarrhea in young children and immunocompromised hosts after rotavirus. Except for nitazoxanide (NTZ), there is no accredited cryptosporidiosis treatment to date. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find an effective and safe treatment for cryptosporidiosis. This study aimed to investigate the possible anti-protozoal effects of Syzygium aromaticum (clove) oil, Anethum graveolens (dill) seeds oil, Lactobacillus acidophilus LB, and zinc against Cryptosporidium parvum in comparison to NTZ.

Methods: Besides the negative control, mice from six experimental groups (T1-T6) were infected with Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts. On the seventh day post-infection (PID), mice from five groups were treated for 8 consecutive days with NTZ, clove oil, dill seed oil, Lactobacillus acidophilus LB, and zinc commercial forms (T2-T5). Oocysts shedding rate, differences of mice body weight, serum IL10, and TNF-α, cryptosporidial antigen, and cd3 at the intestinal mucosa were evaluated at the end of the experiment.

Results: The mean of the C. parvum oocysts' shedding rate was significantly lower in all treated groups than in the non-treated group. The oocysts reduction rate was the highest in zinc-treated mice (98.3%), Lactobacillus acidophilus LB and dill-treated groups (95.77%), and the NTZ-treated group (91.55%). Clove oil was the least effective, with a 74.65% reduction rate. Excluding the clove oil-treated group, immunohistochemical analysis revealed the clearance of the Cryptosporidium antigen in the intestinal tissue in all treated groups.

Conclusion: The study has provided a rational basis for using these safe, cheap, and commercially available alternatives in treating cryptosporidiosis combined with NTZ.

Keywords: Anethum graveolens seeds oil; Cryptosporidium parvum; Lactobacillus acidophilus LB; Syzygium aromaticum; nitazoxanide; zinc.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Immunohistochemical analysis of Cryptosporidium antigen in intestinal mice tissues of different groups: the control group and T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, and T6 were respectively represented in (A–G).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Immunohistochemical analysis of CD3 expression in intestinal mice tissues of different groups: the control group and T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, and T6 were represented in (A–G), respectively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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