Therapeutic potential of coconut and ginger oils in chronic murine toxoplasmosis

Abstract

Background: Immunocompromised patients are susceptible to severe illness due to the opportunistic intracellular protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Regrettably, tissue cysts in the chronic stage cannot be treated by current therapies; they are only effective against tachyzoites in acute infections. Objective: to investigate the potential of metal-organic framework (MOF) loaded coconut oil (CO) and ginger oil (GO) nanoparticles (NPs) as a treatment for chronic murine toxoplasmosis. Material and methods: Ninety laboratory Swiss Albino mice were divided into 8 groups (10 mice each); GI (negative control), GII (infected control), GIII-GXI (infected with Me49 strain of Toxoplasma and treated with); GIII (MOFs-NPs), GIV (spiramycin), GV (spiramycin loaded on MOFs-NPs), GVI (CO-MOF-NPs) and GVII (GO-MOF-NPs), and GVIII (CO+GO- MOFs-NPs). Brain cyst count, tissue pathology, and CD8+ infiltration of the liver were evaluated. Results: A highly statistically significant difference was noted in the number of Toxoplasma brain cysts between the infected groups receiving treatment and GII. GV showed the lowest count of brain cysts with a 60.8% reduction. Histopathological testing showed that loading CO and GO separately or combined with MOFs-NPs significantly improved tissue pathology. They greatly restore the normal architecture of the examined tissues. High-density CD8+ infiltration was seen in the GI and GII liver sections after immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. Whereas GIII, GIV, and GVI displayed low-density CD8+ infiltration, GV, GVII, and GVIII displayed intermediate-density CD8+ infiltration. Conclusion: When loaded on MOFs-NPs, CO, and GO offer promising phytotherapy against chronic toxoplasmosis.