Sharaf El-Deen Shaimaa Ahmed, Brakat Reham Mustafa, Mohamed Asmaa Shams El Dein
Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine Menoufia University, Egypt.
Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine Menoufia University, Egypt.
Exp Parasitol. 2017 Jul;178:51-59. doi: 10.1016/j.exppara.2017.05.005. Epub 2017 May 25.
Schistosomiasis is the second most common human parasitic disease worldwide. It is responsible for 300000 deaths per year. Liver fibrosis is the main pathology of schistosomiasis and its complications are the major cause of death in infected cases. Unfortunately, the therapeutic dose of praziquantel (PZQ) - the main drug treatment - doesn't markedly affect fibrosis. In the present study, antiparasitic and hepatoprotective properties of artichoke leaf extract (ALE) were tested on mice experimentally infected with Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) and were compared to PZQ. Four mice groups were infected with S. mansoni. The first three groups received ALE, ALE + PZQ and PZQ respectively. The 4th was the positive control and the 5th was the negative control group. Worm load, egg count, granuloma numbers and diameters were measured to assess ALE anti-schistoaomal properties. Masson's trichrome staining of fibrosis, immune staining of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and estimation of liver enzymes were done to assess its hepato-protective action. Although it had no significant effects on worm or tissue egg load and granuloma number, ALE caused significant reduction of granuloma diameter, improvement of liver functions and liver fibrosis. ALE caused statistically significant changes in HSCs distribution. It reduced granuloma size by increasing HSCs recruitment inside granuloma and limited liver fibrosis by their inhibition in the peri- and inter-granuloma liver tissue. It was concluded that despite failure of ALE to treat S. mansoni infection, it can limit liver damage caused by this parasite by modulating HSCs recruitment.
血吸虫病是全球第二常见的人类寄生虫病。它每年导致30万人死亡。肝纤维化是血吸虫病的主要病理表现,其并发症是感染病例死亡的主要原因。不幸的是,主要药物治疗药物吡喹酮(PZQ)的治疗剂量对纤维化没有明显影响。在本研究中,对实验感染曼氏血吸虫(S. mansoni)的小鼠测试了朝鲜蓟叶提取物(ALE)的抗寄生虫和肝脏保护特性,并与PZQ进行了比较。将四组小鼠感染曼氏血吸虫。前三组分别接受ALE、ALE + PZQ和PZQ。第四组为阳性对照组,第五组为阴性对照组。测量虫负荷、虫卵计数、肉芽肿数量和直径以评估ALE的抗血吸虫特性。进行纤维化的Masson三色染色、肝星状细胞(HSCs)的免疫染色和肝酶的测定以评估其肝脏保护作用。尽管ALE对虫体或组织虫卵负荷及肉芽肿数量没有显著影响,但它可使肉芽肿直径显著减小,改善肝功能和肝纤维化。ALE引起HSCs分布的统计学显著变化。它通过增加HSCs向肉芽肿内的募集来减小肉芽肿大小,并通过抑制肉芽肿周围和肉芽肿间肝组织中的HSCs来限制肝纤维化。得出的结论是,尽管ALE未能治疗曼氏血吸虫感染,但它可以通过调节HSCs募集来限制该寄生虫引起的肝损伤。