Liver monoamine oxidase (MAO) in liver homogenate of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni and effect of certain therapeutic agents.

MAO activity in liver homogenate of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni was determined from the second till the 14th week following infection. Significant diminution of MAO activity was noticed starting from the sixth week following infection, reaching its lowest value at the eighth week, obviously denoting progress of hepatic fibrosis. Treatment of the infected, animals with four different antischistosomal agents, tarter emetic, stibophen, niridazole and hycanthone, resulted in an improvement of the enzyme level to an almost normal value. This may indicate the ease with which the lesions in the liver including fibrosis recover when the infection is successfully treated.