Anti-Trypanosomal Activities of Chitosan Nano-Encapsulated Toad Venom in Trypanosoma Brucei Brucei Infected Mice

Chemotherapy of African trypanosomiasis in both animal and human forms has been
confronted with multifaceted problems that include a paucity of drugs, resistance, high cost,
prolonged treatment protocol, and adverse side effects. The use of chitosan nanoparticles in the
delivery of the drug to the system enhances the drug’s efficacy due to its biocompatibility, non
toxicity, and biodegradability. This study was designed to characterize the synthesized chitosan
nanoparticles and to determine the activities of chitosan nano-encapsulated Toad venom in T.
brucei-infected mice using standard methods. LD50 was calculated to be 866.03 mg/kg body
weight. Twenty albino mice between 17 - 32 g body weight was grouped into five groups of
four mice each. Group one was treated with 3.5 mg/kg body weight of standard drug
(Diminazene aceturate), group two was treated with 0.2 mL of normal saline, while groups
three, four, and five were treated with 5 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, and 15 mg/kg body weight of
chitosan nano-encapsulated Toad venom respectively. The synthesized chitosan nanoparticles
were found to have a Z-average diameter of 76.27 nm. There was a significant (p < 0.05)
increase in parasitemia count of the negative control group when compared with both standard
treated groups and chitosan nano-encapsulated Toad venom treated groups. In addition, the
weight of all experimental animals significantly (p < 0.05) decreased on the third day of
infection which later showed a significant increase when treated with 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg
of chitosan nano-encapsulated Toad venom at the end of the experiment. Therefore, it can be
concluded that chitosan nano-encapsulated Toad venom has trypanocidal activities and it could
be exploited further for the development of a novel anti-trypanosomal drug for the management
of Animal African Trypanosomiasis.