Effect of wide spectrum anti-helminthic drugs upon Schistosoma mansoni experimentally infected mice

Abstract

Mebendazole, albendazole, levamisole and thiabendazole are well known as active drugs against several nematode species, and against cestodes as well, when the first two drugs are considered. None of the drugs have proven activity, however, against trematodes. We tested the effect of these drugs on the fecal shedding of schistosome eggs and the recovering of adult schistosomes, after portal perfusion in Schistosoma mansoni experimentally infected mice. Balb/c mice infected with 80 S. mansoni cercariae were divided into three groups, each in turn subdivided into four other groups, for each tested drug. The first group was treated with each one of the studied drugs 25 days after S. mansoni infection; the second group was submitted to treatment with each one of the drugs 60 days after infection. Finally, the third group, considered as control, received no treatment. No effect upon fecal shedding of S. mansoni eggs and recovering of schistosomes after portal perfusion was observed when mice were treated with either mebendazole or albendazole. Mice treated with either levamisole or thiabendazole, on the other hand, showed a significant reduction in the recovering of adult schistosomes after portal perfusion, mainly when both drugs were given during the schistosomula evolution period, i.e., 25 days after cercariae penetration, probably due to unspecific immunomodulation.

Prophylactic effect of the anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac in experimental schistosomiasis mansoni

“…In favor of their conclusion was the reduction in the number of Lyt1 T-lymphocytes in the granu- lomata after praziquantel treatment. The reduction in the granuloma size after flubendazole treatment is consistent with the assumption of Pancera et al 16 The authors stated that the mechanism of action of mebendazole may be due to unspecific immunomodulation.…”

Effect of the Broad Spectrum Anthelmintic Drug Flubendazole upon Schistosoma mansoni Experimentally Infected Mice

“…In favour for their conclusion was the reduction in the number of Lyt1 T-lymphocytes in the granuloma after praziquantel treatment recorded by Botros et al [5] and Hassan et al [10]. The reduction in granuloma size after flubendazole treatment is consistent with the assumption of Pancera et al [17]. These authors stated that the mechanism of action of me-bendazole may be due to unspecific immunomodulation.…”

“…There the most well absorbed albendazole is used in a dose of 10 mg/kg body weight daily for 30 days [21]. However, no proven effect against trematodes has been reported [17]. In 1987, Al-Waili reported about the cure of two Schistosoma haematobium patients after treatment with mebendazole [1].…”

ShAR1α and ShAR1β: novel putative nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits from the platyhelminth blood fluke Schistosoma

“…With the ongoing cloning of the nAChR subunits involved in defining susceptibility to cholinergic pesticides, the molecular basis for species specificity is beginning to be explored (Tomizawa and Casida, 2003). Although Schistosoma are insensitive to existing anti-helminthic nAChR ligands such as levamisole (Pancera et al, 1997), these compounds are known to act upon a pharmacologically distinct subset of ACh receptors within the central nervous system of susceptible species (Fleming et al, 1997;Kholer, 2001). Accordingly, resistance does not necessarily signify that schistosome surface nAChRs are not a viable drug target per se but rather that they are pharmacologically distinct from levamisole-sensitive receptors.…”