Environmental Research and Medical Malacology Department, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Giza, Egypt.
Parasitol Res. 2021 Mar;120(3):1011-1023. doi: 10.1007/s00436-020-07037-z. Epub 2021 Jan 6.
Schistosomiasis still affects a lot of people in many developing countries. Reducing the disease dissemination has been the target of various studies. As methyl gallate has antioxidant properties, it is assumed that it can be a good candidate for stimulating the immune response of snails. So, the aim of this work is to investigate the potential of using methyl gallate as an immunostimulant to Biomphalaria alexandrina snails in order to prevent the development of invading miracidia into infective cercariae. The infected snails were exposed to three concentrations of methyl gallate for two periods: 24 and 72 h. The results indicated that the most effective concentration was the lowest one: 125 mg/L of methyl gallate for 72 h, as it reduced both infection rate and mean number of shed cercariae. Also, it increased the total number of snails' hemocytes in hemolymph, which were observed in head-foot region and digestive gland of treated snails surrounding degenerated sporocysts and cercariae. In addition, hydrogen peroxide showed its highest content in tissues of snails exposed to 125 mg/L of methyl gallate for 72 h. In conclusion, methyl gallate can be considered as one of the most promising immunostimulants of B. alexandrina snails against infection with Schistosoma mansoni.
血吸虫病仍然在许多发展中国家影响着大量人口。降低疾病传播一直是各种研究的目标。由于没食子酸甲酯具有抗氧化特性，因此人们认为它可能是刺激钉螺免疫反应的一个很好的候选物。因此，这项工作的目的是研究使用没食子酸甲酯作为免疫刺激物来预防入侵的毛蚴发育成感染性尾蚴。将感染的钉螺暴露于三种浓度的没食子酸甲酯中两个时间段：24 和 72 小时。结果表明，最有效的浓度是最低的浓度：125mg/L 的没食子酸甲酯作用 72 小时，因为它降低了感染率和脱落尾蚴的平均数量。此外，它增加了血淋巴中钉螺血细胞的总数，在处理过的钉螺的头足区和消化腺中观察到了围绕退化的孢囊和尾蚴的血细胞。此外，暴露于 125mg/L 的没食子酸甲酯 72 小时的钉螺组织中显示出最高的过氧化氢含量。总之，没食子酸甲酯可以被认为是防治曼氏血吸虫感染的最有前途的亚历山大钉螺免疫刺激剂之一。
