Comparison of albendazole, chloroquine, and Allium sativum for treating Trichinella spiralis at distinct infection stages: an experimental study

Man is infected with Trichinella spiralis through ingestion of infective larvae in raw pork meat. Early treatment with albendazole almost eradicates Trichinella spiralis adult stage, however, albendazole is poorly effective against encapsulated larvae in muscles in case of late treatment. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of chloroquine and Allium sativum in comparison to albendazole in treatment of enteral and muscular phases of trichinellosis. Sixty Swiss albino mice were infected with Trichinella spiralis larvae orally. Mice were categorized into three groups. Early treatment Group A (Enteral phase examination group): AI Infected untreated control group, AII Infected treated by albendazole, AIII Infected treated by chloroquine and AIV Infected treated by Allium sativum with drugs administration from 2nd day post infection (dpi) for 3 consecutive days and mice scarification on 6th dpi. Early treatment Group B (Muscular phase examination group): BI Infected untreated control group, BII Infected treated by albendazole, BIII Infected treated by chloroquine and BIV Infected treated by Allium sativum with drugs administration from 2nd dpi for 35 days and mice scarification on 45th dpi. Late treatment Group C: CI Infected untreated control group, CII Infected treated by albendazole, CIII Infected treated by chloroquine and CIV Infected treated by Allium sativum with drugs administration from 35th dpi for 7 days and mice scarification on 45th dpi. Assessing parasitological count of adults and larvae, albendazole was the most effective drug in all groups with high statistical significance (p value < 0.001). Regarding histopathological assessment albendazole was the most efficient in decreasing inflammation in early treatment group A with high statistical significance (p value < 0.001). Highest degeneration of Trichina capsules was with albendazole regarding early treatment group B with high statistical significance (p value < 0.001) and chloroquine regarding late treatment group C with high statistical significance (p value < 0.001). Comparison between early muscular phase group (Group B) and late muscular phase group (Group C) parasitological count for total number of larvae showed highly statistical significant difference for albendazole and chloroquine (p value < 0.001), and significant statistical difference for tomex (p value < 0.05).