Saccharomyces boulardii reduces the mean intensity of infection in mice caused by the consumption of liver contaminated by Toxocara canis.

Abstract

Probiotics have shown promising results as a potential method to control toxocariasis in mice inoculated with embryonated eggs of Toxocara canis. This study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of Saccharomyces boulardii in mice fed in natura chicken livers infected with T. canis. Twenty 15-day-old male Sussex chickens were inoculated with 300 T. canis embryonated eggs via intragastric catheter (GI). After 72h of infection, each liver was collected and individually offered to a group of 20 mice. Mice that received supplemented ration with S. boulardii (1.107 colony forming units) and consumed in natura chicken liver showed reduction in infection intensity of 67.1%. This study demonstrated that administration of S. boulardii has potential as a probiotic to assist in controlling visceral toxocariasis caused by the consumption of viscera from paratenic hosts containing infective parasite larvae.