Therapeutic outcome of bone marrow stem cells and ginger in chronic murine toxoplasmosis.

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a common protozoal disease that can cause serious complications. Hence the available drug therapies possess limited activity against chronic forms of the disease; thus, it is urgent to find more effective agents. The current study highlighted the therapeutic activity of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and ginger combined with spiramycin against chronic experimental toxoplasmosis. A total of 48 male Swiss albino mice were distributed into 8 groups: non-infected non-treated, infected non-treated, infected treated by spiramycin, infected treated by BMSCs, infected treated by ginger, infected treated by combined BMSCs and spiramycin, infected treated by combined BMSCs and ginger, and infected treated by combined BMSCs, ginger, and spiramycin. The evaluation was performed through parasitological counting of brain cyst burden, histopathological examination, immunohistochemical cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) staining assessment, serum IL-10 measurement, and apoptotic gene markers assay. The results revealed that combined BMSCs, ginger, and spiramycin displayed significantly reduced parasitic cyst burden, restored histopathological changes, decreased COX2 expression, and downregulated caspases gene expression. It can be concluded that adding BMSCs and ginger to spiramycin provides a potent therapeutic agent against chronic toxoplasmosis.