Trypanocidal Effects of Cisplatin alone and in Combination with Nigella sativa Oil on Experimentally Infected Mice with Trypanosoma evansi

BACKGROUND: Due to the limited number of the available drugs for the treatment of trypanosomiasis, this study was designed to evaluate the trypanocidal effects of cisplatin or/and Nigella sativa oil (NSO) in experimentally infected mice with T. evansi. METHODS: During 2015 at the Parasitology Department, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt, sixty Swiss albino mice were divided into six groups: normal control (I), infected control (II); cisplatin-treated (III); NSO-treated (IV); combined cisplatin + NSO-treated (V) and diminazene-treated (VI). The tested drugs were evaluated by the assessment of parasitaemia, measurement of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), urea, creatinine, serum IgM and a histopathological study. RESULTS: NSO showed a trypanocidal effect, however; it was not as effective as cisplatin or diminazene. There were significant increases of AST, ALT, urea, and creatinine in group II and III, which were significantly reduced in cisplatin + NSO-treated group (V). Moreover, there were significant reductions in serum IgM and the pathological changes of the examined organs of group V when they were compared with other treated groups. CONCLUSION: Cisplatin combined with NSO showed a trypanocidal effect against T. evansi with preservation of vital organs functions and architecture.