Assessment of oxidative/nitrosative stress biomarkers and DNA damage in Haemonchus contortus, following exposure to zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

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.

Assessment of oxidative/nitrosative stress biomarkers and DNA damage inTeladorsagia circumcinctafollowing exposure to zinc oxide nanoparticles

“…Our previous nanoparticle samples were used in this study (Esmaeilnejad et al ., 2018). Briefly, ultrapure (>99%), high-quality ZnO-NPs (20–30 nm) were procured from a commercial supplier (Iranian Nanomaterials Pioneers Company, Mashhad, Iran).…”

“…The PBS (pH = 7.4) and stock solution were prepared at the concentration of 10 mg ZnO-NPs per mL by sonication based on a previously described procedure (Khan et al ., 2015). Then, the stock solution was diluted and the final concentrations of 1, 4, 8, 12 and 16 ppm were prepared (Esmaeilnejad et al ., 2018). Twenty motile parasites were treated with each concentration in triplicates and the PBS solution served as a negative control.…”

“…Each image was classified according to the intensity of the fluorescence in the comet tail and was given a value of 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4. Total scores were between 0 and 400 arbitrary units (Esmaeilnejad et al ., 2018).…”

“…Parasitic gastrointestinal (GI) nematodes are a serious threat to the livestock industry and farm profitability, responsible for considerable losses worldwide. The losses include decreased production, costs of treatment, growth retardation and mortality in severe cases (Esmaeilnejad et al ., 2018). Also, some of the GI nematodes (e.g.…”

“…All of these studies show that nanoparticles have remarkable anthelmintic properties; however, the anthelmintic mechanisms have rarely been investigated. In our previous study (Esmaeilnejad et al ., 2018), we tested for the antiparasitic effects of ZnO-NPs on Haemonchus contortus and obtained promising results. Here, we conducted a similar study using the same nanoparticle samples on T .…”