scholarly journals The Role of Wild Rodents in the Transmission of Schistosoma mansoni in Brazil

10.5772/25909 ◽  
2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosana Gentile ◽  
Marisa S. ◽  
Magali G. M. Barreto ◽  
Margareth M. L. Goncalves ◽  
Paulo S.
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 686
Author(s):  
Raquel Porto ◽  
Ana C. Mengarda ◽  
Rayssa A. Cajas ◽  
Maria C. Salvadori ◽  
Fernanda S. Teixeira ◽  
...  

The intravascular parasitic worm Schistosoma mansoni is a causative agent of schistosomiasis, a disease of great global public health significance. Praziquantel is the only drug available to treat schistosomiasis and there is an urgent demand for new anthelmintic agents. Adopting a phenotypic drug screening strategy, here, we evaluated the antiparasitic properties of 46 commercially available cardiovascular drugs against S. mansoni. From these screenings, we found that amiodarone, telmisartan, propafenone, methyldopa, and doxazosin affected the viability of schistosomes in vitro, with effective concentrations of 50% (EC50) and 90% (EC90) values ranging from 8 to 50 µM. These results were further supported by scanning electron microscopy analysis. Subsequently, the most effective drug (amiodarone) was further tested in a murine model of schistosomiasis for both early and chronic S. mansoni infections using a single oral dose of 400 mg/kg or 100 mg/kg daily for five consecutive days. Amiodarone had a low efficacy in chronic infection, with the worm and egg burden reduction ranging from 10 to 30%. In contrast, amiodarone caused a significant reduction in worm and egg burden in early infection (>50%). Comparatively, treatment with amiodarone is more effective in early infection than praziquantel, demonstrating the potential role of this cardiovascular drug as an antischistosomal agent.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 428
Author(s):  
Pavel Kvapil ◽  
Joško Račnik ◽  
Marjan Kastelic ◽  
Jiřina Marková ◽  
Jean-Benjamin Murat ◽  
...  

Monitoring of infectious diseases is one of the most important pillars of preventive medicine in zoos. Screening for parasitic and bacterial infections is important to keep animals and equipment safe from pathogens that may pose a risk to animal and human health. Zoos usually contain many different animal species living in proximity with people and wild animals. As an epidemiological probe, 188 animals (122 mammals, 65 birds, and one reptile) from a zoo in Slovenia were examined for selected pathogens. Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum were detected by ELISA in 38% (46/122) and 3% (4/122) of mammals, and in 0% (0/64) and 2% (1/57) of birds, respectively; the reptile (0/1) was negative. A statistically significant difference in T. gondii prevalence was found in Carnivora compared to Cetartiodactyla and primate antibodies to Encephalitozoon cuniculi were detected by IFAT in 44% (52/118) of mammals and 20% (11/56) of birds, respectively; the reptile (0/1) was negative. Herbivores had a higher chance of being infected with E. cuniculi compared to omnivores. Antibodies to Chlamydia abortus and Coxiella burnetii were not detected in any of the 74 tested zoo animals. The sera of 39 wild rodents found in the zoo were also examined; they were negative for all three parasites. The parasite T. gondii was detected by PCR in the tissue of two mute swans (Cygnus olor), three eastern house mice (Mus musculus), one yellow-necked field mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), and one striped field mouse (A. agrarius). Positive samples were genotyped by a single multiplex PCR assay using 15 microsatellite markers; one sample from a mute swan was characterized as type II. This micro-epidemiological study offers a better understanding of pathogens in zoo animals and an understanding of the role of zoos in biosurveillance.


Vaccine ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (48) ◽  
pp. 6753-6758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Workineh Torben ◽  
Gul Ahmad ◽  
Weidong Zhang ◽  
Stewart Nash ◽  
Loc Le ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (16) ◽  
pp. 4172
Author(s):  
Lina Grekin ◽  
Ram Cohen ◽  
James M. Sodetz ◽  
Daniel Gold ◽  
Zvi Fishelson

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. e0007704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicky Gent ◽  
Rebecca Waihenya ◽  
Lucy Kamau ◽  
Ruth Nyakundi ◽  
Peris Ambala ◽  
...  

Parasitology ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 543-558
Author(s):  
Gina Moser ◽  
F. von Lichtenberg ◽  
A. Sher

SUMMARYSchistosomula, surface labelled with trinitrophenyl (TNP) target antigens were tested for their susceptibility to killing by humoral- or cell-mediated anti-TNP effector mechanisms in vivo. It was found that mice passively immunized with anti-TNP serum effectively rejected an intravenous (i.v.) challenge infection with TNP-labelled schistosomula. In contrast, mice which demonstrated a strong TNP-specific, delayed hypersensitivity response to the haptenated larvae as evidenced by ear swelling, were unable to eliminate the same challenge infection. Significant passive immunization against TNP-labelled schistosomula was shown to require microlitre quantities of anti-TNP serum and could be conferred with an IgG fraction purified from the serum. The role of cells in the antibody-dependent rejection of TNP-labelled schistosomula was investigated using histopathological methods. In passively immunized mice, haptenated larvae elicited neutrophil-enriched focal reactions in the lungs and showed evidence of degeneration as early as 2 h after injection. These cellular reactions were not observed in recipients which had received prior whole-body irradiation. Nevertheless, by 24 h TNP-labelled larvae were found to have been killed in the lungs of the irradiated mice despite the absence of significant cellular attack. The above observations suggest that the antibody-dependent destruction of haptenated schistosomula results from two overlapping responses, an early response mediated by radio-sensitive cells and a second, radio-resistant response manifesting its effects at later time points. Since mice genetically deficient in the fifth component of complement fail to develop the later response, it probably reflects the effect of the lytic pathway of complement on the parasite.


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