ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate the in vivo efficacy of combined ABZ-interferon (IFN)-α treatment for CE in mice.After 5 months of secondary infection with protoscoleces,mice were randomly allocated into four groups:ABZ-treated group,IFNαtreated group,ABZ+IFN-α group and untreated control group.Drugs in diverse treated groups were respectively administered for 2 months,of which,sera were respectively collected in 0 d,7 d,14 d,28 d,36 d,48 d,and 60 d.Mice were then euthanized and associated indications were investigated to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy.Results showed that ABZ+IFN-α induced a significant reduction of the number,size as well as weight of cysts,compared with that in ABZ (P＜0.05) or untreated group (P＜0.01) respectively.This effect was associated with ultrastructural modification of the cyst in ABZ+IFN-α group.Interestingly,significant decrease of IL (interleukin)-10 in serum and in vitro production by spleen cells with ABZ+ IFN-α treatment was observed in comparison with untreated control (P＜0.01).Serum IgE,IgG and subsets were respectively decreased in ABZ+IFN-α treatment,compared with that in control group (P＜0.01).Our findings demonstrated that combination of ABZ with IFN-α may contribute to an efficient therapeutic regimen of human and animal CE.