Background: Trichinosis is acquired through ingesting the infective larvae in pork meat. Drugs employed for the treatment of trichinosis have a limited bioavailability in addition to the adverse side effects. In the current work, the therapeutic effect of ivermectin against experimental muscle trichinosis was evaluated using solid lipid nanoparticles with and without albendazole.

Methods: Seven groups of ten albino mice each were created from the 70 total. (GI): normal control, (GII): infected, non-treated, (GIII): infected treated with albendazole, (GIV): infected treated with ivermectin. (GV) infected treated with solid lipid nanoparticles, (GVI): infected treated with ivermectin loaded on solid lipid nanoparticles, and (GVII): infected and received a combination of albendazole and solid lipid nanoparticles loaded with ivermectin. For the seven-day intestinal phase and the 49-day muscle phase, each group was split into two subgroups of five mice each. The focus of this study is the muscular phase. The mean number of encysted larvae in the muscle tissue was counted for a parasitological evaluation. Using feulgen and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stains, all groups were assessed histopathologically and histochemically, respectively. Liver and kidney parameters were also assessed biochemically.

Results: The treatment that combined the use of albendazole and ivermectin loaded on solid lipid nanoparticles (GVII) produced the greatest decrease in the count of encysted muscle larvae (92.16%). The improvement in histological, histochemical, and biochemical markers supported these findings.

Conclusion: Ivermectin loaded on solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNPS) could be an additional or synergistic therapeutic agent in treating trichinosis.