Drug resistance in helminth parasites has incurred several difficulties to livestock industry and ranked among the top public health concerns. Therefore, seeking for new agents to control parasites is an urgent strategy. In the recent years, metallic nanoparticles have been considerably evaluated for anthelmintic effects. The current research was conducted to assess possible anthelmintic impacts of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on a prevalent gastrointestinal nematode, H. contortus. Moreover, several biomarkers of oxidative/nitrosative stress and DNA damage were measured. Various concentrations of the nanoparticle were prepared and incubated with the worms for 24 hours. The parasite mobility, mortality rate, antioxidant enzymes activities (SOD, Catalase and GSH-Px), lipid peroxidation, total antioxidant status as well as nitric oxide (NO) contents and DNA damage were determined. ZnO-NPs exerted significant wormicidal effects via induction of oxidative/nitrosative stress and DNA damage. Conclusively, ZnO-NPs can be utilized as a novel and potential agent to control and treatment of helminth parasitic infections.
Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between serum levels of vitamin A and β-carotene in the liver of cattle. Methods: A total number of 150 samples were selected according to the type of parasitic infections of the liver after postmortem examination and confirmation. Parasitic lesions in the liver were subdivided into three major parasites, including Fasciola hepatica, Dicrocoelium dendriticum, and hydatid cysts. Fifty samples were obtained from cattle without any parasitic infection as a control group. Serum levels of vitamin A, β-carotene concentrations (μg/dL), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activity were assayed. Results: Naturally infected cattle with D. dendriticum, F. hepatica and hydatid cyst showed lower vitamin A levels. Serum β-carotene levels were significantly decreased in all groups (p<0.05). ALT and AST activities in animals with parasitic diseases were statistically higher than in control group (p<0.01). A significant negative correlation was determined between the β-carotene, vitamin A levels and enzyme activities of the liver in all the three types of liver infections (p<0.001).Conclusions: This study indicated that serum levels of vitamin A and β-carotene decline was present in cattle with liver parasite infection and vitamin supplements should be supplied. Yöntemler: Postmortem inceleme ve konfirmasyon sonrasında karaciğer parazit enfeksiyonu türüne göre toplam 150 örneklem seçildi. Karaciğerdeki parazitik lezyonlar Fasciola hepatica, Dicrocoelium dendriticum ve hidatik kist olarak üç gruba ayrıldı. Kontrol grubu olarak herhangi bir parazit enfeksiyonu olmayan sığırlardan 50 örnek alındı. A vitamini, β-karoten (μg/dL), alanin aminotransferaz (ALT) ve aspartat aminotransferaz (AST) düzeyleri değerlendirildi. Bulgular: D. dendriticum, F. hepatica ve hidatik kist olan doğal yollardan enfekte olmuş sığırlarda A vitamini seviyeleri daha düşüktü. Serum β -karoten düzeyleri tüm gruplarda anlamlı şekilde düşük bulundu (p<0,05). Parazitik hastalığı olan hayvanlarda ALT ve AST aktiviteleri kontrol grubuna göre anlamlı derecede daha yüksekti (p<0,01). Üç tip karaciğer enfeksiyonunun tümünde, β-karoten ve A vitamini seviyeleri ile karaciğer enzim aktiviteleri arasında anlamlı bir negatif korelasyon saptandı (p<0,001). Sonuç: Bu çalışmanın bulgularına göre, karaciğer parazit enfeksiyonu olan sığırlarda düşük serum A vitamini ve β-karoten seviyeleri görül-müştür ve vitamin takviyeleri verilmelidir.
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