Influence of some micronutrients and Citharexylum quadrangular extract against liver fibrosis in Schistosoma mansoni infected mice

Abstract

Despite effective chemotherapy, schistosomiasis remains the second major public health problem in the developing world, second to malaria. The present study was undertaken to explore the therapeutic effect of the micronutrients (vitamin E and selenium) and chloroform extract of Citharexylum quadrangular leaves and their mixture against the deleterious pathological impacts induced in mice livers by Schistosoma mansoni infection. Parasitological markers showed that oral ingestion of the different supplements to S. mansoni infected mice was effective in reducing the worm burden with concomitant decrease in the egg burden, granuloma count and its diameter as well as total area of infection in their livers versus untreated ones. Parasitological parameters were reflected by the improvement of the histopathological pictures of livers of infected-treated mice. The current investigation also showed that the used agents and their mixture successfully modulated liver fibrosis of infected mice which was documented by a marked decrease of liver hydroxyproline level (as biomarker of liver fibrosis) as well as the serum levels of inflammatory fibrogenic mediators namely, fructosamine, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and total immunoglobin E (IgE). In addition, the used agents showed ameliorative action on the elevated liver oxidative stress-nitric oxide (NO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) and the decreased antioxidant biomarkers, reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione reductase (GR), thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) and catalase (CAT) which may have a role in liver damage and fibrosis due to S mansoni infection. In conclusion, treatment with the used micronutrients and plant extract either alone or in combination attenuated the deleterious impacts of S. mansoni infection on mice livers. The combination of all supplements was more effective as it greatly modified the inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress responsible for schistosomal liver fibrosis.

The potential role of mefloquine against Schistosoma mansoni infection by prohibition of hepatic oxidative stress in mice

“…Necrosis or membrane damage releases the enzymes into circulation; therefore, they can be measured in the serum. In agreement with the reports of Kadry et al (2013) and Mahmoud and Elbessoumy (2013), the increment of such enzymes in serum may be due to the destruction of hepatocytes by the action of toxins of the parasite eggs leading to their release into the circulation. In addition, Naik et al (2011) reported that hepatocyte membrane damage seems to be the prime culprit for the marked increase in the serum marker enzymes, AST, ALT, and ALP following schistosomal (2011), data from the present study showed that treatment with Mef at the two tested doses for juvenile and adult stages significantly decreased the levels of serum AST, ALT, ALP and GGT activities in infected-treated group indicating maintenance of functional integrity of hepatic cell membrane.…”

“…Schistosomiasis is a prevalent parasitic disease in tropical and sub-tropical areas, which accounts for the second place in terms of socioeconomic and public health burden (Cardoso et al, 2013;Kadry et al, 2013). Each year schistosomiasis afflicts up to 600 million people in 74 tropical and sub-tropical countries, predominantly in the developing world (El Ridi et al, 2014).…”

Phytochemical and biological analyses of Citharexylum spinosum

“…This is in contrast to the study made by Shalaby and Bahgat (2003), who reported stronger antimicrobial activity against Gram negative bacteria and positive bacteria tested by disc diffusion method. Different species of the genus Citharexylum were reported to have antiulcer, antihypertensive and hepatoprotective effects, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, anti-Schistosoma mansoni activities, antioxidant nephroprotective, radical scavenging, cytotoxic activities and regulating immediate type of allergic reaction (Shin et al, 2000;Khalifa et al, 2002;Shalaby and Bahgat, 2003;Bahgat et al, 2005;Khan and Siddique, 2012;Kadry et al, 2013;Allam, 2014).…”

“…Genus Citharexylum was reported to contain triterpenes, sterols, irridoids, lignan glycoside, phenolic and flavonoids. Different species of genus Citharexylum are famous to have antiulcer, antihypertensive, hepatoprotective effects, immunomodulatory, antimicrobial, anti-Schistosomal, antioxidant, nephroprotective, radical scavenging, cytotoxic activities and regulating immediate type of allergic reaction (Khalifa et al, 2002;Ganapaty et al, 2010;Khan and Siddique, 2012;Kadry et al, 2013; *Corresponding author. E-mail: kh.omran@yahoo.com.…”

Synergistic Trial Model of Four Coadministration of Medicinal Herbs on Malaria infected Mice

“…The mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with Plasmodium berghei and baseline was established as published by Ekpo and Ekanemesang (2016) and Kadry et al (2013).…”