Background: Nitazoxanide (NTZ) is not effective in treating cryptosporidiosis in immunocompromised
individuals with moderate effectiveness in immunocompetent individuals.
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of flaxseed oil alone or loaded on ZIF nanoparticles (NPs) in
Cryptosporidium-infected mice.
Material and Methods: This case-control experimental study was conducted on 60 immunocompromised
mice equally divided into 6 groups; group 1: non infected non treated, group 2: infected non treated, group
3: infected and NTZ treated (100 mg/kg/day), group 4: infected and flaxseed oil treated (300 mg/kg/day),
group 5: infected and treated with a combination of NTZ and flaxseed oil, group 6: infected and treated
with flaxseed oil loaded on ZIF-8 NPs. To achieve our objective, oocyst shedding, superoxide dismutase
antioxidant enzyme (SOD), oxidative stress marker malondialdehyde (MDA), and intestinal histopathology
were investigated.
Results: The best oocyst reduction rate was observed in mice treated with combination of flaxseed oil
and NTZ (84.5%), followed by those treated with NTZ (80.4%), treated with flaxseed oil loaded on ZIF-8
NPs (79.0%), and treated with flaxseed oil alone (74.7%). The highest value of SOD and lowest value of
MDA were observed in mice treated with combination of flaxseed oil and NTZ, followed by those treated
with flaxseed oil loaded on ZIF-8 NPs, and treated with flaxseed oil alone. Histopathologically, all treated
groups showed improvement, but the mice treated with combination of flaxseed oil and NTZ showed the
best improvement.
Conclusion: Adding flaxseed oil to NTZ impro