Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Menoufia, Egypt.
Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
Parasitology. 2020 Jun;147(7):799-809. doi: 10.1017/S003118202000044X. Epub 2020 Mar 17.
Neurotoxocariasis (NT) is a serious condition that has been linked to reduced cognitive function, behavioural alterations and neurodegenerative diseases. Unfortunately, the available drugs to treat toxocariasis are limited with unsatisfactory results, because of the initiation of treatment at late chronic stages after the occurrence of tissue damage and scars. Therefore, searching for a new therapy for this important disease is an urgent necessity. In this context, cytotherapy is a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of many diseases and tissue damages through the introduction of new cells into the damaged sites. They exert therapeutic effects by their capability of renewal, differentiation into specialized cells, and being powerful immunomodulators. The most popular cell type utilized in cytotherapy is the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) type. In the current study, the efficacy of MSCs alone or combined with albendazole was evaluated against chronic brain insults induced by Toxocara canis infection in an experimental mouse model. Interestingly, MSCs combined with albendazole demonstrated a healing effect on brain inflammation, gliosis, apoptosis and significantly reduced brain damage biomarkers (S100B and GFAP) and T. canis DNA. Thus, MSCs would be protective against the development of subsequent neurodegenerative diseases with chronic NT.
神经旋毛虫病 (NT) 是一种严重的疾病，已被证实与认知功能下降、行为改变和神经退行性疾病有关。不幸的是，由于在发生组织损伤和疤痕后才开始进行晚期慢性治疗，目前用于治疗旋毛虫病的药物非常有限，且效果不佳。因此，迫切需要寻找这种重要疾病的新疗法。在这种情况下，细胞疗法是一种通过将新细胞引入受损部位来治疗许多疾病和组织损伤的新型治疗方法。它们通过自身的更新能力、分化为特定细胞的能力以及强大的免疫调节能力发挥治疗作用。细胞疗法中最常用的细胞类型是间充质干细胞 (MSCs)。在目前的研究中，评估了 MSCs 单独或与阿苯达唑联合使用对 Toxocara canis 感染诱导的慢性脑损伤的疗效，在实验性小鼠模型中。有趣的是，MSCs 联合阿苯达唑对脑炎症、神经胶质增生、细胞凋亡有明显的治疗作用，并显著降低了脑损伤生物标志物（S100B 和 GFAP）和 T. canis DNA 的水平。因此，MSCs 可能对慢性 NT 后继发性神经退行性疾病的发展具有保护作用。
