Giardia Infection and NLRP3 Inhibition

Mice were divided into four groups (n = 7 per group): (i) PBS treatment negative control group (PBS only; 100 µl/mouse PBS by gavage, followed 3 h later by 100 µl/mouse PBS i.p. route daily for 7 days); (ii) MCC950 inhibitor [27 (link)] treatment negative control group (100 µl/mouse PBS by gavage, followed 3 h later by 10 mg/kg body weight [BW] MCC950 [in PBS] by i.p. route daily for 7 days); (iii) G. duodenalis cyst infection group (1.5 × 10⁶ cysts/mouse by gavage, followed 3 h later by 100 µl/mouse PBS by i.p. route daily for 7 days); and (iv) G. duodenalis cyst infection combined with group MCC950 inhibitor treatment group (1.5 × 10⁶ cysts/mouse by gavage, followed 3 h later by 10 mg/kg BW MCC950 i.p. route daily for 7 days). The BW of each mouse was monitored daily, and all mice were euthanized on the 7th day. The harvested duodenum (3 cm long) was cut into small pieces in 1 ml of PBS, the cysts were disrupted in PBS at 4 °C overnight and the number of G. duodenalis trophozoites was counted under an optical microscope (Nikon Corp., Japan). Fresh duodenum (1 cm long) was isolated for hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining.