Background

Treatment of parasitic infections with conventional drugs is associated with high toxicity, and undesirable side effects require cogent substitutions. Nanotechnology has provided novel approaches to synthesize nano-drugs to improve efficient antipathetic treatment.

Purpose

Nano-chitosan as a nontoxic antimicrobial agent was examined against three most prevalent protozoa in humans, Plasmodium falciparum, Giardia lamblia and Trichomonas vaginalis.

Methods

Chitosan extracted from Penicillium fungi was converted to nanoparticles to maximize its therapeutic properties. Safety of nano-chitosan was examined by determining its hemolytic property and toxicity on PC12 cells. The studied parasites were identified with RFLP-PCR and cultivation in relevant media. Characteristics of nano-chitosan as an useful and valuable curative compound was evaluated by FTIR, DLS and SEM. Dose dependent anti-parasitic effect of nano-chitosan was evaluated.

Results

The highest anti-parasitic activity of the nano-chitosan was observed at 50 μg/mL by which growth rates of cultivated P. falciparum, T. vaginalis and G. lamblia were inhibited by 59.5%, 99.4%, and 31.3%, respectively. The study demonstrated that nano-chitosan with the least toxicity, low side effects, and substantial efficacy deserved to be considered as an anti-parasitic nano-compound.

Conclusion

Nano-chitosan significantly inhibited protozoan growth in vitro promising to explore its use to combat parasitic infections. Further investigations covering extended sample size, in vivo experiments and optimizing the concentration used may lead to efficient treatment of protozoan diseases.

Graphic abstract

中文翻译：

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纳米壳聚糖对恶性疟原虫、兰氏贾第鞭毛虫和阴道毛滴虫的体外抗原生动物效应。

背景

用常规药物治疗寄生虫感染与高毒性有关，不良副作用需要有说服力的替代。纳米技术提供了合成纳米药物的新方法，以提高有效的抗病治疗。

目的

纳米壳聚糖作为一种无毒抗菌剂，已针对人类中三种最普遍的原生动物恶性疟原虫、兰氏贾第鞭毛虫和阴道毛滴虫进行了检测。

方法

从青霉属真菌中提取的壳聚糖被转化为纳米颗粒，以最大限度地提高其治疗特性。通过测定其对PC12细胞的溶血特性和毒性来检验纳米壳聚糖的安全性。研究的寄生虫通过RFLP-PCR鉴定并在相关培养基中培养。通过FTIR、DLS和SEM评价纳米壳聚糖作为有用且有价值的固化化合物的特性。评估了纳米壳聚糖的剂量依赖性抗寄生虫作用。

结果

纳米壳聚糖的最高抗寄生虫活性在 50 μg/mL 时观察到，培养的恶性疟原虫、阴道毛滴虫和兰姆氏菌的生长速率分别被抑制了 59.5%、99.4% 和 31.3%。该研究表明，具有最小毒性、低副作用和显着疗效的纳米壳聚糖值得被视为一种抗寄生虫纳米化合物。

结论

纳米壳聚糖在体外显着抑制原生动物生长，有望探索其对抗寄生虫感染的用途。包括扩展样本量、体内实验和优化使用浓度的进一步研究可能会导致原生动物疾病的有效治疗。

图形摘要