In Vitro Assessment of Anthelmintic Activities of AgO Nanoparticle in Comparison to Closantel Against Liver Fluke Dicrocoelium Dendriticum

Background: Dicrocoeliasis is a rare Food-Born parasitic disease of the grazing herbivores as well humans, caused by Dicrocoelium dendriticum making severe pathological changes of the liver and bile systems, and therapeutic options for treatment are limited. With the appearance of drug resistance in liver flukes, there is a need to focus on alternative approaches to control helminth parasites of veterinary importance. Because of low-performance medications; drug delivery poses a great challenge for better treatment of Dicrocoeliasis. The current study aims to determine the anthelmintic properties of silver oxide nanoparticles (AgO) as a new method in dicrocoeliasis treatment, in vitro assay.Methods: The impacts of various concentrations of AgO nanoparticles (50-200 µg/ml) for 12-24 hours were compared with the Closantel, as the chemical drug. The anthelmintic efficacy was measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique.Results: SEM images of treated worms by AgO (200 µg/ml) showed severe damage, including complete loss of sensory papillae and destruction of prominent network structures and tegument vesicles. The mortality rates how the anthelmintic properties of AgO were highly relied on time and concentration, as far as increasing the time and concentration cause increasing the mortality rate. According to the MTT assay, the toxicity of AgO, at concentrations, 800 µg/ml is 8.7 %. Conclusions: Hence, it could be concluded that AgO NPs performed anthelmintic properties effects. To the best of our knowledge, no previous reports have assessed the effect of AgO NP on liver fluke D.dendriticum. Therefore, the present study provides a basis for future research on the control of this common trematode.