Effects of garlic on albino mice experimentally infected with Schistosoma mansoni: a parasitological and ultrastructural study.

Due to increasing problems of the resistance associated with praziquantel, the drug of choice for treatment of schistosomiasis, alternative therapies are being sought. Scientific interest in the healing power of garlic has resulted in thousands of published papers on the ability of garlic to maintain good health. The current study was designed to evaluate the prophylactic and therapeutic values of garlic treatment against Schistosoma mansoni. Albino mice were infected with S. mansoni cercariae and were classified into: (a) treated with garlic before infection (prophylactic group), (b) treated with garlic after infection (therapeutic group), (c) treated with garlic before and after infection; (d) infected non-treated (control) group. Seven weeks postinfection, all mice were necropsied, and their livers and ilea were obtained for parasitological assessments. Schistosomes recovered from all groups were processed for ultrastructural investigations. Garlic treatment significantly evoked a reduction in the egg and worm burden. Garlic also resulted in various ultrastructural alterations in the tegument of the surviving worms including tubercular disruption, oedema, blebbing, ulcers, and vacuolization of other tegumental structures. Our findings suggest that garlic is a convenient prophylactic and a promising therapeutic agent for schistosomiasis mansoni infection.