Therapeutic efficacy of albendazole and berberine loaded on bovine serum albumin nanoparticles on intestinal and muscular phases of experimental trichinellosis

• Published in: Acta tropica Vol. 241; p. 106896
• Main Authors: El-Wakil, Eman S., Khodear, Gehan A.M., Ahmed, Heba Essam Sedky, Ibrahim, Gihane Ibrahim Khalil, Hegab, Fatma, Abdo, Sarah M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.05.2023
• Subjects: Albendazole; Albendazole - therapeutic use; Animals; Berberine; Berberine - pharmacology; Berberine - therapeutic use; Bovine serum albumin nanoparticles; Combination; Larva; Mice; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein; NLRP3; Serum Albumin, Bovine - pharmacology; Serum Albumin, Bovine - therapeutic use; Trichinella spiralis; Trichinellosis - drug therapy; Berberine; Bovine serum albumin nanoparticles; NLRP3; Trichinella spiralis; Albendazole; Combination
• ISSN: 0001-706X; 1873-6254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2023.106896

There has been no treatment for trichinellosis until now. Therefore, this work targeted to investigating the efficacy of albendazole and berberine alone and loaded on bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanoparticles against intestinal and muscular phases of trichinellosis in mice. Mice were divided into nine different groups: negative control, positive control, blank nanoparticle, albendazole, berberine, a combination of albendazole and berberine, albendazole-loaded nanoparticle, berberine-loaded nanoparticle and combination of albendazole and berberine-loaded nanoparticle. Subsequently, they were sacrificed 6 and 35 days after infection. Treatment efficacies were parasitologically, histopathologically and, immunohistochemically assessed. Parasitological counting for the adult worms and encysted larvae with histopathological assessment using H&E for intestinal and muscular sections and picrosirius red stain for muscular sections were used. Also, immunohistochemical expression of the intestinal nod-like receptor-pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) was investigated. The group treated with nano_combined drugs showed a statistically significant reduction in adult and encysted larval count (p<0.005), a remarkable improvement of intestinal and muscular inflammation, and a reduction in the capsular thickness of the larvae. Also, this group showed the highest reduction of NLRP3 expression. This work revealed that berberine might be a promising anti-trichinellosis drug with a synergistic effect when combined with albendazole through modulation of the immune response, inflammation, and larva capsule formation. Furthermore, delivering both drugs in a nanoparticle form improves their therapeutic response.