Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Int J Parasitol. 2011 Feb;41(2):235-42. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2010.09.010. Epub 2010 Nov 3.
This research aims towards developing an alternative antischistosomal drug using miltefosine, which is primarily used in the treatment of leishmaniasis. The treatment and control of schistosomiasis, a notable neglected tropical disease (NTD), rely on a single drug, praziquantel (PZQ). The dependency on PZQ exclusively is quite alarming, given the spread of the disease (over 200 million people infected and close to 800 million people at risk in three continents) and the threat of drug resistance. This study shows that the oral administration of miltefosine in a daily dose of 20mg/kg for five successive days to mice infected with either invasive, juvenile or adult stages of Schistosoma mansoni resulted in significant reduction of worm burden, hepatic granulomata size and amelioration of hepatic pathology. Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed that miltefosine induced severe tegumental damage in adult schistosomes. In conclusion, we believe this is the first study highlighting miltefosine as a promising novel agent for schistosomiasis mansoni.
本研究旨在利用米替福新开发一种替代抗血吸虫药物，米替福新主要用于治疗利什曼病。血吸虫病是一种显著的被忽视热带病（NTD），其治疗和控制依赖于一种药物，即吡喹酮（PZQ）。仅依赖 PZQ 令人相当担忧，因为这种疾病的传播范围很广（在三大洲有超过 2 亿人感染，接近 8 亿人面临风险），而且还存在药物耐药性的威胁。本研究表明，每天口服 20mg/kg 的米替福新，连续五天，可显著降低感染曼氏血吸虫的入侵性、幼年或成年期幼虫的虫荷、肝肉芽肿大小，并改善肝病理学。扫描电子显微镜显示米替福新诱导成年血吸虫严重的表皮损伤。总之，我们认为这是第一项强调米替福新作为一种有前途的新型曼氏血吸虫病药物的研究。
