Evaluation of the potential therapeutic efficacy of Cerastes cerastes venom in acute experimental toxoplasmosis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The control of toxoplasmosis relies on conventional chemotherapeutics, which have hitherto unresolved concerns.

Methods

Swiss albino mice were intraperitoneally (IP) infected with 5 × 10³ tachyzoites of RH HXGPRT( -) strain of Toxoplasma gondii, then IP treated with one-fourth lethal dose 50 (one-fourth LD50) of Cerastes cerastes venom (CCV) for three consecutive days (LD = 0.535 mg/kg). The anti-Toxoplasma activity of CCV was evaluated, for the first time, in immunocompetent (IC) and immunosuppressed (IS) mice via estimation of their mortality and survival time, microscopical counting of peritoneal tachyzoites, measurement of liver parasite burdens using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), detection of infectivity, and ultrastru

SUBMITTER: El-Zawawy LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12914995 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature