Abstract. Schistosomiasis is a widespread helminthic disease. Treatment of schistosomiasis is based on chemotherapy with praziquantel, which is the drug of choice. Since resistance to praziquantel has been demonstrated, alternative drugs must be considered. Myrrh is an oleo-gum resin from the stem of the plant Commiphora molmol. This study was carried out on 204 patients with schistosomiasis. The drug was given at a dose of 10 mg/kg of body weight/day for three days, and induced a cure rate of 91.7%. Re-treatment of cases who did not respond with a dose of 10 mg/kg of body weight/day for six days gave a cure rate of 76.5%, increasing the overall cure rate to 98.09%. The drug was well tolerated, and side effects were mild and transient. Twenty cases provided biopsy specimens six months after treatment and none of them showed living ova.

Background: Studies using safe natural products {Blue green ® tablet (Rhodiola rosea L. root dry extract; Eleutherococcus senticosus Maxim. root dry extract; Ginkgo biloba L. leaf dry extract; Klamath microalgae Aphanizomenon flos aquae (AFA) 50 mg)} showed its antiviral effect. As well as vitamin D3, linolenic acid, black seeds and honey. The aim of the study was to determine the efficacy of combination of these natural products and chloroquine in treatment of HCV patients refusing or unfit for combined Interferon and Ribavirin (INF/RBV) therapy or HCV patients who failed to achieve sustained virological response to INF/RBV. Methods: Patients with detectable HCV RNA with different stages of fibrosis and cirrhosis refusing or unfit for combined Interferon Ribavirin (INF/RBV) therapy or patients who failed to achieve sustained virological response to INF/RBV from April 2009 to March 2012 were included in this study. All the patients were treated first from coinfection as schistosomiasis and helicobacter pylori if present then received combination Blue green ® tablet-original natural company, Italy; 2 tablet/30 kg once daily; Vitamin D: 1000 IU/day; tablespoon filled with paste made of linolenic acid, black seeds powder and honey; and 250 mg chloroquine once daily for 10 days and then every 3 days through the duration of therapy.Results: 195 patients with chronic HCV were included; mean age 47.8 ± 9.03 years, 67.7% males. All patients have chronic hepatitis. 24 patients had cirrhosis. 82 (42.1%) achieved negative HCV RNA after 6 months of treatment. After 12 months of treatment, 107 (54.9%) patients had negative HCV RNA. 125 (64.3%) patients achieved ETR after 18 months of treatment. Moreover, 4/6 (66.6%) patients with combined HCV and HBV showed undetectable HBV after 3 months. Two out of 8 (25%) patients who failed to achieve SVR with previous (INF/RBV) have ETR. Conclusion:Combination of safe natural products (Blue green ® tablet, vitamin D3, linolenic acid, black seeds and honey) and chloroquine may have a role to achieve SVR in combination with recent direct acting antiviral drugs for HCV infection.

HCV infection is a major health problem in Egypt. Studies using safe natural products Blue green® tablet showed its antiviral effect. Polymorphisms in the interleukin-28B (IL28B) gene are associated with outcomes from infection with HCV. The rationale of the present study is to evaluate the potential role of interleukin 28B gene polymorphism (IL28B) and natural immuneenhancer treatment response in chronic HCV patients. This study included 100 chronic HCV patients. Patients were classified into two groups: Group I, fifty patients with cirrhosis and advanced liver disease. Patients were unfit INF/ Ribavirin: Group II, fifty patients who refused INF/Ribavirin. Patients were treated with combination of natural products of Blue green® tablet (4 tablets daily which equivalent to 100 mg AFA/30 kg BW), vitamin D, tea spoon field paste of black seeds, olive oil and honey. Alanine Aminotransferase (AST), Aspartate Aminotransferase (ALT), complete blood count (CBC) were measured in the two groups. Detection of HCV-RNA level by quantitative PCR was done before & after 3, 6, 12 and 18 months of treatment. Genomic DNA extracted from all the 100 patient’s blood samples was analyzed for the rs12979860 SNPof IL28B using a real-time polymerase chain technique incorporating SYBR Green. The results showed that, the activities of hepatic marker enzymes (AST and ALT), complete blood pictures (Hb, WBCs and Platelets), HCV RNA PCR, IL 28-B gene polymorphism were non-significantly (p>0.05) differences when compared untreated patients (Group I) and treated patients (Group )were CC genotype before treatment was 8 (34%) & was 13 (26%) after treatment, CT genotype before treatment was 26 (52%) & was 28 (56%) after treatment, TT genotype before treatment was 7 (14%) & was 9 (18%) after treatment. Also, there were non-significant (p>0.05) differences between responder & non-responder in treated patients. In conclusion, the treatmentwith natural immune enhancer in chronic HCV patients showed no significance correlation with IL 28 gene polymorphism