Abstract
BACKGROUND: To date, control of trichinellosis has been dependent on the conventional chemotherapeutic agent, albendazole (ALB), with its hitherto unsolved flaws, including a serious adverse profile, minor activity against muscle larva (ML) stages, and resistance development. Camel whey protein (CWP), a unique non-pharmaceutical nutraceutical, has altered the treatment trajectory of a plethora of pathological conditions. The present study aimed to evaluate the prophylactic and therapeutic profile of CWP and its tryptic hydrolysate (TWH) against experimental intestinal and muscular trichinellosis. METHODS: CWP and TWH were characterized by free amino acids analysis using the HPLC Pico-Tag method and DPPH free radical scavenging antioxidant assay. 200 µl of five-day oral dosing of CWP and its TWH was prophylactically and therapeutically administered to mice. Parasitological, ultrastructural, biochemical, and histopathological studies were performed for assessment of their anti-trichinella activity. Preclinical data were subjected to analysis of variance and a Tukey post hoc test for pairwise comparisons. RESULTS: The free amino acids profile and high DPPH scavenging antioxidant activity of CWP (79.2%) and TWH (82.7%) were determined. Parasitologically, TWH showed the highest prophylactic (84.0%R and 83.8%R) and therapeutic (94.6%R and 93.9%R) activity in mean worm count recovered from intestinal and muscular stages, respectively. Lesser reductions were recorded by CWP, whether prophylactically-treated (73.9%R and 72.1%R) or therapeutically-treated (84.5%R and 83.9%R) against aforementioned stages, respectively. In addition, scanning electron microscopy revealed that the most severe ultrastructural deformities were observed in TWH-treated worms. Biochemically, the prophylactic and therapeutic administration of TWH recorded the highest antioxidant serum level of reduced glutathione (GSH) that curbed the oxidant malondialdehyde (MDA). Histopathologically, TWH ameliorated the intestinal and muscular pathology compared to CWP. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the prophylactic and therapeutic administration of CWP and TWH against experimental trichinellosis, showing the superiority of TWH in inducing multistage activity and ameliorating the intestinal and muscular pathology.