Higher frequency of administration of biotherapic T. cruzi 17DH decreases parasitemia and increases survival in mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi

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Introduction: The study of the effect of different ways of treatment using highly diluted substances is rare in the literature. Some authors consider the dose irrelevant, justifying that the action of the medication highly diluted is qualitative [1-3]. Others emphasize the importance of quantity and frequency of administration of the highly diluted substance for a successful treatment [4,5]. The model of murine infection by T. cruzi is widely studied and it is an excellent tool to study the effect of highly diluted substances.
 
 Aim: To evaluate, in vivo, the effect of different amounts and frequency of administration of the biotherapic 17 dH T. cruzi in the evolution of the parasitemia curve and survival of mice infected with Trypanosoma cruzi.
 
 Materials and methods: A blind randomised controlled trial was performed, using 30 swiss male mice, aged 28 days, divided into groups according to treatment: CONTROL - mice treated with 7% water-alcohol solution diluted in water given ad libitum in an amber bottle; GAVAGE – mice treated with medication highly diluted 17 DH T. cruzi from 4 th to 9 th day of infection by gavage; WATER - mice treated with highly diluted medication 17 DH T. cruzi in water ad libitum offered in an amber bottle until the end of the study period. The groups were infected with the Y strain of T. cruzi, intraperitoneal, 1400 blood trypomastigotes. The medicines was handled according to the Brazilian Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia [6] with microbiological test according to RDC n°. 67 and in vivo biological risk. Parasitemic curve was determined by daily counting of the parasites [7], the total parasitemia, peak parasites and survival. Data were compared using the BioEstat 5.0, ANOVA, with significance of 5%. The experiment was approved under the protocol n° 030/2008 - Ethics in Animal Experimentation of the Universidade Estadual de Maringá.
 
 Results: Animals treated with the medication highly diluted in water had lower level of total parasitemia and a lower peak of parasites compared to animals treated by gavage, or control group of infection (p = 0.0103 p = 0.0008). In the group treated by gavage both the total parasitemia and the peak of parasites were higher than the control group. Survival was greater in animals treated with biotherapic diluted with water (p = 0.0003) and by gavage (p = 0.0016) when compared with the control group.
 
 Among the different ways of treatment the use of medication diluted in water increased the survival of animals (p = 0.0013). The treatment by gavage once a day until the 9th day of infection increase the parasitemia and survival. The medication diluted in water showed better results with significant reduction of parasitemia and an increase of survival. This result may be related to the frequency with which the medication diluted in water was ingested by each animal, and the lower stress that this form of administration provides the animals.
 
 Figure 1: Parasitemic curve of animals infected with Y strain of T. cruzi and treated with medication highly diluted 17DH T. cruzi. CONTROL: mice treated with alcohol 7%; GAVAGE: treated with medication highly diluted 17DH T. cruzi by gavage; WATER: treated with medication highly diluted 17dH T. cruzi in water.
 
 Conclusion: There is a difference in the effect of the medication highly diluted depending on the way of treatment used. For mice, the use of drug diluted in water offered frequently, results in better benefits. The clinical use of these results in humans, should consider the allometric system medication dosage which takes into account the metabolic rate of each organism.