Synthesis and Evaluation of Clove Oil-Loaded Solid Lipid Nanoparticles on Echinococcus granulosus Protoscoleces

The most prevalent approach during treatment of cystic echinococcosis (CE) relies on surgical cyst removal and long-term chemotherapy with benzimidazoles. However, cyst rupture may lead to anaphylaxis or secondary cysts and adverse effects. This study is aimed at synthesizing and evaluating the potential of clove oil-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (ClO-SLNs) against Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces. Clove bud (Syzygium aromaticum) oil was purchased and ClO-SLNs were synthesized. Physicochemical characterization of the nanoparticles was performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and their zeta potential was measured. In addition, encapsulation efficiency (EE%) and drug loading (DL%) were performed. The cytotoxicity of different concentrations of ClO-SLNs was evaluated on HepG2 cell line. Protoscolicidal effects of different concentrations of ClO-SLNs were investigated as well. One-way ANOVA followed by post hoc tests where appropriate was employed to analyze data. Nanoparticles with round smooth margins were characterized by TEM. The size of particles was about 122.3 ± 30.0 nm with a zeta potential of -0.9 mV. The EE% and DL were 59.68% and 16.08%, respectively. The cell viability remained high (> 80%) across two concentrations, 100 μg/mL and 1 mg/mL, of ClO-SLNs. Raw clove oil extract exhibited no cytotoxicity at 50 mg/mL and the cell viability of albendazole was more than 60% at 10 mg/mL. The mortality rates of protoscoleces exposed to ClO-SLNs were concentration-dependent in all time points with p values: 0.013, 0.0074, 0.0064, and 0.0042 for 15, 30, 60, and 120 min. The ClO-SLNs exhibit good biocompatibility across all tested concentrations with highly potent and rapid protoscolicidal activity against E. granulosus protoscoleces. These findings suggest that ClO-SLNs may represent a potential protoscolicidal candidate for future intraoperative applications. However, further in vivo studies are required before considering clinical evaluation.