A study of the potential therapeutic effect of ginger (zingiber officinale) loaded nanoparticles on murine schistosomiasis mansoni

Chemotherapy is the most widely advocated method of antischistosomal control. Repeated chemotherapy has resulted in the emergence of drug-resistant schistosome strains. In the last few years, such resistance has drawn the attention to alternative drugs especially from natural sources (ginger). Nanoparticles have received special attention because they act as potent drug delivery systems. This study evaluated the antischistosomal effect of ginger extract loaded on chitosan nanoparticles on Schistosoma mansoni experimentally infected mice. The present study was conducted on sixty eight female BALB/C mice. Mice were exposed to 80±10 cercariae per mouse and divided into 3 main groups;(G1) negative control, (G2) positive control, G3) infected /treated, either by ginger extract (G3a), chitosan nanoparticles (G3b), praziquantel (G3c) or ginger extract loaded on chitosan nanoparticles (G3d). All groups were evaluated by parasitological and biochemical parameters. The results showed that worm burden and the egg density in liver were significantly reduced with P value<0.001 in G3d. The alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities were significantly decreased in group G3d with p value<0.001 which indicated recovery of the liver tissue.