Trichinellosis is a zoonotic disease of public health concern since it caused human outbreaks in
many countries. Traditional therapy has many adverse effects in addition to the developing
resistance. So, this necessitates finding effective natural alternatives. The study assessed the
effect of Thyme extract (active constituent of thyme) on Trichinella spiralis in experimentally
infected mice compared with Albendazole®.
One hundred and twenty Albino mice were classified into four groups of 30 mice each. G1:
non-infected control, G2: infected untreated control, G3: albendazole treated, and G4: thyme
extract treated. Mice were sacrificed on the 7th day post infection for intestinal phase and on the
49th & 60th days post infection for muscular phase. Efficiency of treatment was assessed by
parasitological and histopathological examinations.
The results showed significant decrease in intestinal worms in all treated mice relative to
untreated control group. Reduction rates regarding the intestinal phase was 96.7% in albendazole
treated mice, followed by 33.4% in Thyme extract treated ones. Histological showed a significant
decrease in muscle larvae relative to positive control mice showed by reduction rates of
86%, & 45.1% for albendazole and thyme respectively on 49th dpi, and 99.9 %, & 68.6%
respectively on 60th dpi. There was improvement in intestinal and muscular architecture in all
treated mice compared to positive control one, which was markedly best in albendazole treated
ones.