Assessment of the potential prophylactic and therapeutic effects of kaempferol on experimental Trichinella spiralis infection.

Currently, no effective treatment is available for trichinellosis, a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by infection with the genus Trichinella. Kaempferol (KPF), a dietary flavonoid, has been documented to have anti-parasitic effects and various medicinal uses. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the efficacy of KPF in preventing and treating the intestinal and muscular phases of trichinellosis in mice compared with albendazole (ABZ). To achieve this, mice were divided into six groups: negative control; positive control; KPF prophylaxis; KPF treatment; ABZ treatment; and a combination of ABZ and KPF. Parasitological, histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluations were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the treatments. The parasitological assessment involved counting small intestinal adult worms and encysted muscle larvae. Additionally, the histopathological evaluation used the haematoxylin and eosin staining method for intestinal and muscular sections and picrosirius red stain for muscular sections. Moreover, the immunohistochemical expression of the intestinal NOD-like receptor-pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) was evaluated. The group treated with combined drugs demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the count of adults and encysted larvae (P < 0.05), a remarkable improvement in the inflammation of the intestines and muscles and a decrease in the thickness of the larvae's capsular layer. Additionally, the highest reduction in NLRP3 expression was observed in this group. Based on this study, KPF shows promise as an anti-trichinellosis medication that, when taken with ABZ, has a synergistic impact by modulating inflammation and larval capsule formation.

DNA sequence polymorphisms in two strains of Fasciola hepatica from Egypt and Europe.

A new PCR based system was used that had broad detection capability among parasites based on a conserved region of the 18 S ribosomal DNA gene. Five samples each of European and Egyptian Fasciola hepatica of bovine origin were obtained and DNA was isolated. The target of the PCR primers was a fragment of approximately 600 nucleotides in length corresponding to a region of the 18 S rRNA gene. Sequences were compared over a 107 base pair region that identified polymorphism between the strains. All five Egyptian isolates were identical. Likewise all of the European isolates had identical sequence. There were polymorphisms between the two strains and also with F. hepatica isolates from North America. Both the European and Egyptian isolates have a single base addition in the polymorphic region. In addition there is a single base substitution in the Egyptian isolates when compared to the others. This region is a small target that can be used to identify the origins of different F. hepatica isolates.