Evaluation of the in vitro Activity of Dermaseptin 01, a Cationic Antimicrobial Peptide, against Schistosoma mansoni

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease that remains a considerable public health problem worldwide. Since the mainstay of schistosomiasis control is chemotherapy with a single drug, praziquantel, drug resistance is a concern. Here, we examined the in vitro effects of dermaseptin 01 (DS 01), an antimicrobial peptide found in the skin secretion of frogs of the genus Phyllomedusa, on Schistosoma mansoni adult worms. DS 01 at a concentration of 100 μg/ml reduced the worm motor activity and caused the death of all worms within 48 h in RPMI 1640 medium. At the highest sublethal concentration of antimicrobial peptide (75 μg/ml), a 100% reduction in egg output of paired female worms was observed. Additionally, DS 01 induced morphological alterations on the tegument of S. mansoni, and a quantitative analysis carried out by confocal microscopy revealed extensive destruction of the tubercles in a dose-dependent manner over the concentration range of 50-200 μg/ml. It was the first time that an anthelmintic activity towards schistosomes has been reported for a dermaseptin.

Effect of neem ( Azadirachta indica A. Juss) leaf extract on resistant Staphylococcus aureus biofilm formation and Schistosoma mansoni worms

“…Similar results were obtained by previous studies using other antischistosomal compounds, such as piplartine, dermaseptin and phytol de Moraes et al, 2011;de Moraes et al, 2014). The schistosomes tegument is an important target for antischistosomal drugs, alterations in the surface topography of worms were used by several studies for the evaluation of antischistosomal drugs activities in vitro and in vivo (Veras et al, 2012;Guimarães et al, 2014;de Moraes et al, 2014).…”

Antischistosomal Activity of Oxindolimine-Metal Complexes

“…In this context, alterations of the tegument of S. mansoni induced by several antischistosomal compounds have also been described (25)(26)(27)(28)(29). In this study, we observed extensive tegumental damage in S. mansoni that intensified progressively when the concentrations of the oxindolimine-metal complexes tested increased.…”

Activity of Epiisopiloturine Against Schistosoma mansoni

“…All the experiments were performed in triplicate and were repeated at least three times. The parasites were maintained for 120 h and monitored every 24 h using a light microscope to evaluate their general condition: motor activity and mortality rate [11,12].…”