A New Approach to the Treatment of Lumpy Skin Disease Infection in Cattle by using Propolis Encapsulated within ALG NPS

Background: Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a contagious disease caused by the Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) which belongs to the genus Capripoxvirus of the family Poxviridae. Cattle are the only animal species affected, with high morbidity and mortality rate in the young. LSD causes economic losses, abortions in females, and sterility in males. Nanoparticles are one of the novel strategies that adopted in the treatment of diseases in the last few years owing to their pioneering and functional properties. Aim: This study aimed to treat the clinically infected cattle with LSDV using Propolis-Alginate nanoparticles (Propolis-ALg NPs) through different routes such as eye drop, oral route and topical spray. Materials and methods: The Propolis-ALg NPs were characterized through Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), in-vitro cytotoxicity, and hemolysis assays. The animal study was carried out during the outbreak of LSD in July 2018 at Beni-suef Governorate, Egypt. 35 infected cows with different ages were used in the present study. The animals were divided into two groups; group A (20 animals) and group B(15 animals). Animals in group A were treated with Propolis-ALg NPs and animals in group B were treated with tetracycline antibiotics. Confirmation of the isolated LSDV was done by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using universal primers. Results: The Propolis-ALg NPs showed spherical morphology with small particle sizes. The thermal analysis revealed the successful encapsulation of the propolis within the ALg NPs. Also, the in-vitro cytotoxicity study confirmed the safety of the Propolis-ALg NPs. In addition to that, the prepared nanoparticles were found to be non-toxic when they come in contact with blood. On the other hand, the clinically infected cattle with LSDV which treated with the Propolis-ALg NPs revealed a 100 % recovery. While, the animals treated with the tetracycline showed only 13.3% recovery. Conclusion: Therefore, the Propolis-ALg NPs were shown to be a potential candidate in the therapy against LSDV infections.