Evaluation of Allicin Against Alveolar Echinococcosis In Vitro and in a Mouse Model

Abstract

Purpose At present, the chemotherapy for alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is mainly based on albendazole (ABZ). However, more than 20% of patients fail chemotherapy. Therefore, new and more effective treatments are urgently needed. Allicin has been reported to have antibacterial and antiparasitic effects. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the in vivo and in vitro efficacy of allicin against Echinococcus multilocularis (E. multilocularis). Methods The effects of allicin on protoscolex survival and structural changes were evaluated in vitro. The 4-week-old BALB/c male mice used for in vivo modelling underwent inoculation of E. multilocularis protoscoleces by intraperitoneal injection, followed by intragastric administration of allicin for 6 weeks. Then, the effects of allicin on lymphocyte subsets, metacestode growth and host tissue matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2)/MMP9 expression around metacestodes in mice were evaluated. The toxicity of allicin was further evaluated in vivo and in vitro. Results Att 40 μg/mL, allicin showed a killing effect on protoscoleces in vitro and treatment resulted in the destruction of protoscolex structure. Molecular docking showed that allicin could form hydrogen bonds with E. multilocularis cysteine enzymes. After 6 weeks of in vivo allicin treatment, the spleen index of mice was increased and the weight of metacestodes was reduced. Allicin increased the proportion of CD4+ T cells and decreased the proportion of CD8+ T cells in the peripheral blood and spleen. Pathological analysis of the metacestodes showed structural disruption of the germinal and laminated layers after allicin treatment. In addition, allicin inhibited the expression of MMP2 and MMP9 in metacestode-surrounding host tissues. At 160 μg/mL, allicin had no significant toxicity to normal hepatocytes but could inhibit hepatoma cell proliferation. At 30 mg/kg, allicin had no significant hepatorenal toxicity in vivo. Conclusion These results suggest that allicin exerts anti-E. multilocularis effects in vitro and in vivo and can enhance immune function in mice, with the potential to be developed as a lead compound against echinococcosis.

Allicin attenuated hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice by regulating PPARγ-IRAK-M-TLR4 signal pathway

“…The mice were randomly assigned to six groups: control, I/R, allicin, and I/R + allicin (3 mg kg −1 , 10 mg kg −1 , 30 mg kg −1 ), and the doses of allicin was determined according to previous study. 19 To establish an I/R model, mice were anesthetized with phenobarbital (100 mg kg −1 , i.p. ), the abdominal cavity was opened, and the hepatic pedicles and tissues were exposed via laparotomy.…”

Therapeutic effect on Alveolar echinococcosis by targeting EM-Leucine aminopeptidase

“…Thus, EM-LAP as a therapeutic vaccine shows specific immunity and the therapeutic efficiency is better than LAP broad spectrum inhibitor treatment. More recent studies have focused simply on the parasiticidal effect (15,45) and evaluated only the protoscoleces number and cyst size in vivo or in vitro without considering parasite invasion, migration and fibrosis in the host (46,47). This study measured cyst size and invasion level in the host to evaluate the therapeutic efficiency of EM-LAP.…”

Effect of dietary garlic (Allium sativum) on the zootechnical performance and health indicators of aquatic animals: A mini-review

“…It is also garlic's most important active component, with antiseptic, antiviral, antifungal, antiparasitic, and antibacterial properties [63,84]. In addition, allicin and ajoene are the active components used in veterinary medicine and livestock production [85,86], and their benefits and antiparasitic properties on the zootechnical performance of farm animals have been reported [63,[78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88].…”