Figure 4

Sections of ileum of studied groups; (a,b): uninfected control group showing normal appearance of intestinal layers mucosa comprised in columnar cells (red arrowhead) with goblet cells (wavy arrows), lamina propria (curved arrows); submucosa (green arrow), musculosa (red arrow) and serosa covered with mesothelium (arrowhead). Also, intestinal villi (arrows) with normal architecture and length, shallow intestinal crypts are visible (blue arrow). (c,d): Infected, non- treated group showing malformation of the intestinal villi (arrowhead) and marked inflammation (I) and mature T. spiralis lodged in the intramucosal and in the lumen (arrows). (e,f): Pumpkin decoction treated mice with moderate inflammatory cell infiltrates and slight necrosis could be noticed in villi (curved arrows). (g,h): Honey treated mice showed moderate inflammatory infiltration (I) and necrotic and damaged villi (curved arrows). (i,j): Pumpkin decoction + honey mixture administrated group displayed an improved appearance, with the majority of the villi returning to their typical design with hyperplasia of goblet cells and an apparent decrease in the inflammatory infiltration. (k,l): Albendazole manipulated group exhibited T. spiralis adults in the core of villi (black arrows) with obvious inflammatory infiltration (red arrow), also villi appeared detached and atrophied (arrowheads). Original magnifications were 200 × (Scale-bar: 100 µm), 400× (Scale-bar: 50 µm). Quantitative estimation of mean number of goblet cells from 4 images/sample/group using Image-Pro Plus software is charted down the images. ∗∗ ∗p < 0.05 compared to uninfected. ∗∗ p < 0.05 compared to infected. ∗p < 0.05 compared to pumpkin. #p < 0.05 compared to honey. $p < 0.05 compared to standard.