AMELIORATING EFFECT OF CARICA PAPAYA L. FRUIT EXTRACT ON ENTAMOEBA HISTOLYTICA IN MICE

Entamoeba histolytica is a major public health problem in tropical and subtropical countries. Treatment failure with specific chemotherapy suggested the development of new plant origin therapy. Different parts of Carica papaya Linn. have anti-parasitic agent. The study evaluated the efficacy of C. papaya fruit methanolic and aqueous extracts against Entamoeba histolytica as compared with the used Albendazole ® in experimentally infected mice. Male CD-1 mice were divided into two groups of 50 each; immunocompetent (IC) and dexamethasone immunosuppressed (IS). Each group was subdivided into 5 subgroups, normal, infected and infected treated with crude & pure C. papaya extracts (500mg/kg) or albendazole (200mg/kg). Each mouse was infected orally with 1000 E. histolytica cysts. Six weeks after infection, treatment with pure and crude extracts (3doses/ week) for 3 weeks which started from the 3 rd week after oral administration of dexamethasone, significantly reduced the trophozoites (78.20% & 76.29%, respectively) in IC mice compared to albendazole (88.72% & 81.81%). Serum IgG, IgM, IgA antibody levels and IFN-P < 0.001) increased in treated mice compared to normal ones. Histopathological results showed improvement in the hepatic and intestinal architecture of infected mice treated with papaya extracts and albendazole with various degrees. Results of IS groups were the same as those of IC ones but, with lower levels.