Eugenol mitigates Trichinella spiralis-induced tissue damage via integrated antiparasitic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory actions.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Preclinical animal (rat) model and in silico molecular docking study
PubMed 42142139 · doi:10.1007/s00210-026-05415-5
What was done
Rats infected with *Trichinella spiralis* were treated with eugenol at 15 or 30 mg/kg to evaluate antiparasitic, biochemical, and histopathological effects. Outcomes measured included adult intestinal worm counts, muscle larval encystment, serum organ damage markers (CK, LDH, ALT, AST), inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-3, IL-6), oxidative stress markers (malondialdehyde, protein carbonyls, total antioxidant capacity, total nitrite), and histopathology of intestine, skeletal muscle, heart, lung, and spleen, supported by in silico molecular docking.
What was found
Eugenol treatment dose-dependently decreased intestinal adult worm counts from 125.4 ± 8.7 worms/rat in infected untreated controls to 72.6 ± 6.3 worms/rat at 15 mg/kg (42.1% reduction) and 38.2 ± 5.1 worms/rat at 30 mg/kg (69.5% reduction). Eugenol also significantly attenuated elevations in CK, LDH, ALT, AST, TNF-α, IL-3, IL-6, malondialdehyde, and protein carbonyls, while increasing total antioxidant capacity and total nitrite, with marked histopathological preservation of organ architecture.
Why it matters
The findings indicate that eugenol possesses combined anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties that reduce parasite load and tissue injury in experimental trichinellosis.
Limits
The study is restricted to an animal model and molecular modeling, with no human clinical data. The abstract does not report the total number of animals, larval encystment counts, or direct head-to-head comparisons with standard antihelminthic drugs such as albendazole.
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