Cortés Alba, García-Ferrús Miguel, Sotillo Javier, Guillermo Esteban J, Toledo Rafael, Muñoz-Antolí Carla
Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Valencia, Avda. Vicent Andrés Estellés s/n, 46100, Burjassot, Valencia, Spain.
Centre for Biodiscovery and Molecular Development of Therapeutics, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, QTHA, Building E4, McGregor Rd, Smithfield, AUS, Cairns, QLD, 4878, Australia.
Parasitol Res. 2017 Aug;116(8):2119-2129. doi: 10.1007/s00436-017-5511-1. Epub 2017 May 23.
The current strategy for the control of helminth infections relies on chemotherapy. However, resistance appearance is promoting the necessity of developing new drugs against trematodes. Herein, potential trematocidal effects of garlic (Allium sativum) are investigated in the context of intestinal foodborne trematodes, employing the Echinostoma caproni-mouse model. Daily administration of dietary doses of garlic was conducted in three groups of mice: (i) before infection (prophylaxis), (ii) after infection (therapeutic) and (iii) both, before and after infection (continuous). A fourth group of mice, not exposed to garlic, was used as control. No differences in worm recovery, fecundity and local cytokine expression profiles were found with respect to control infections. However, considerable alterations in tegument structure, including swelling, furrowing, vacuolization and changes in secretory bodies were detected in garlic-exposed parasites using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Protein secretion was markedly reduced in response to garlic, whereas up-regulation of several proteins, such as major vault protein and tER-ATPase, was observed in treated worms. The results presented herein provide new insights in the anthelminthic activity of bioactive garlic compounds and the manner that parasites respond to toxins.
目前控制蠕虫感染的策略依赖于化疗。然而，耐药性的出现促使人们有必要研发针对吸虫的新药。在此，利用卡氏棘口吸虫-小鼠模型，研究了大蒜（蒜）对食源性肠道吸虫的潜在杀吸虫作用。对三组小鼠每日给予不同剂量的大蒜饮食：（i）感染前（预防），（ii）感染后（治疗），以及（iii）感染前后均给药（持续给药）。第四组未接触大蒜的小鼠用作对照。在蠕虫回收率、繁殖力和局部细胞因子表达谱方面，与对照感染相比未发现差异。然而，使用扫描电子显微镜和透射电子显微镜检测发现，接触大蒜的寄生虫体表结构出现了显著变化，包括肿胀、沟纹、空泡化以及分泌体的变化。大蒜处理后蛋白质分泌明显减少，而在处理后的蠕虫中观察到几种蛋白质的上调，如主要穹窿蛋白和内质网ATP酶。本文给出的结果为生物活性大蒜化合物的驱虫活性以及寄生虫对毒素的反应方式提供了新的见解。
