Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Sep 3;70(5):188.
doi: 10.1007/s11686-025-01130-y.

Assessment of the Therapeutic Role of Allium tuncelianum Extract in Rats Infected with Blastocystis Subtype 3

Mehmet Aykur  1 , Nazan Gökşen Tosun  2 , Aykut Özgür  3
Affiliations

Assessment of the Therapeutic Role of Allium tuncelianum Extract in Rats Infected with Blastocystis Subtype 3

Mehmet Aykur et al. Acta Parasitol. .

Abstract

Purpose: Blastocystis is one of the most prevalent intestinal protists detected in humans and animals worldwide, and its role in human health and disease has become an increasingly debated topic in parasitology. The study investigated the therapeutic potential of Allium tuncelianum extract, an endemic plant of Turkey, as an alternative treatment for Blastocystis ST3 infections.

Methods: The experimental animals were infected with Blastocystis ST3. The animals were divided into six groups: healthy control (G1), infected control (G2), infected Allium tuncelianum extract treatment (G3a, G3b, and G3c) and infected Metronidazole treatment (G4). Microscopic examination and qPCR methods were used to determine Blastocystis load in fecal samples.

Results: The G3c group (250 mg/kg/day Allium tuncelianum) complete (100.0%) microscopic clearance of Blastocystis load in fecal samples was achieved by day 12th, whereas the Metronidazole group (G4), showed only an 84.1% reduction. Moreover, qPCR results revealed lower Blastocystis loads in groups G3c and G3b compared to Metronidazole. A statistically significant decrease in fecal Blastocystis load was observed in all treated groups compared to the infected group (G2) (p < 0.0001). Blastocystis load in fecal sample reduction exhibited a dose-dependent pattern across all Allium tuncelianum treatment groups, confirming the dose-dependent therapeutic effect of the extract. Allium tuncelianum extract, especially at higher doses, may serve as a natural, effective, and safer alternative or supplement to Metronidazole in the management of Blastocystis infection.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that Allium tuncelianum extract exhibited superior therapeutic efficacy against Blastocystis ST3 compared to Metronidazole. The findings suggest that regular dietary consumption of Allium tuncelianum could represent a promising natural alternative for managing Blastocystis infections.

Keywords: Allium tuncelianum; Blastocystis; In vivo; Metronidazole; Rat; Subtype 3; qPCR.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: The study was conducted at the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University. The study was ethically approved by the Ethical Committee of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, according to the Declaration of Helsinki. All experimental procedures involving animals were carried out in accordance with the ethical guidelines and approved protocols of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University (Approval No: 2022-HADYEK-02).

References

    1. Stensvold CR, van der Giezen M (2018) Associations between gut microbiota and common luminal intestinal parasites. Trends Parasitol 34(5):369–377 - PubMed - DOI
    1. Stensvold CR, Tan KSW, Clark CG (2020) Blastocystis. Trends Parasitol 36(3):315–316 - PubMed - DOI
    1. Stensvold CR, Andersen LO, Gentekaki E (2024) Towards minimizing second-generation mis-identification fication of Blastocystis. Trends Parasitol 40(8):670–674 - PubMed - DOI
    1. Khorshidvand Z et al (2021) Worldwide prevalence of emerging parasite Blastocystis in immunocompromised patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Microb Pathog 152:104615 - PubMed - DOI
    1. Hamdy DA et al (2024) Effect of Blastocystis sp. infection on hematological parameters and trace element status in children with iron-deficiency anemia. J Parasit Dis 48(3):514–524 - PubMed - PMC - DOI

LinkOut - more resources