EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE NATURAL AND NANOTHERAPIES VERSUS METRONIDAZOLE ON GIARDIASIS INFECTED HAMSTERS

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

Abstract

Giardia lamblia is one the most common human zoonotic protozoan affecting about 200 million people
annually, but recurrent symptoms and drug resistance were reported in giardiasis patients. The present
study assessed the therapeutic effect of Tomex® and probiotics against giardiasis as well as evaluated
efficacy of chitosan nanoparticles and metronidazole. Sixty healthy male hamsters were divided
into 6 groups. Each group consists of 10 hamsters as following: GI non-infected hamsters, GII infected
control, GIII, GIV, GV & GVI infected with G. lamblia and treated with tomex, probiotics, chitosan
nanoparticles (CsNPs), and metronidazole (MTZ) respectively. Hamsters were orally infected with
10,000 Giardia cysts. After 3 weeks stool samples were examined for Giardia samples and contents
for intestinal histopathology and electron microscopy of Giardia trophozoite ultrastructure. The highest
reduction in Giardia cyst and trophozoite were in hamsters received MTZ but with natural alternative
therapies chitosan nanoparticles showed a therapeutic effect with highest reduction in cyst and
trophozoite counts (80.59% & 76.55%) respectively and best recovery in intestinal pathology. MTZ
gave higher reduction rates (91.04% & 90.75%) respectively with normal intestinal histopathology.

Keywords

Journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology
Volume 50, Issue 3
December 2020
Pages 622-632

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