Taghipour Ali, Ghaffarifar Fatemeh, Horton John, Dalimi Abdolhossein, Sharifi Zohreh
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Tropical Projects, Hitchin, UK.
Trop Med Health. 2021 Sep 8;49(1):71. doi: 10.1186/s41182-021-00363-7.
Cystic echinococcosis (CE), is a parasitic zoonosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus (E. granulosus) larvae in liver and lungs of both humans and animals. Surgical intervention is the mainstay for CE treatment, using scolicidal agents that inactivate live protoscolices. This study evaluated the scolicidal effects of Silybum marianum ethanolic extract and its combination with albendazole in vitro for the first time. Moreover, in a literature review, we investigated the effects of a wide range of Iranian medicinal plants on protoscolices of E. granulosus.
S. marianum ethanolic extract was prepared and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was used to establish the proportions of its component compounds in the extract. Cytotoxicity was evaluated in mouse macrophage cells (J774A.1 cell line) using MTT method. Next, the scolicidal activity of the extract alone and combined with albendazole was tested as triplicate at various concentrations incubated for 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min. Finally, protoscolex viability was determined using 0.1% eosin as a vital stain. PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing techniques were used to characterize the genotype of E. granulosus.
HPLC analysis showed that S. marianum ethanolic extract contained mostly silydianin (14.41%), isosilybin A (10.50%), and silychristin (10.46%). The greatest scolicidal effects were obtained with the combination of S. marianum with albendazole (79%), S. marianum ethanolic extract alone (77%) and albendazole (69%), at a concentration of 500 μg/ml for 60 min, respectively (P < 0.05). Molecular analysis showed that all the cysts used were G1 genotype.
The data suggest that S. marianum ethanolic extract is a potential scolicide in vitro; however, further investigations are required to determine its efficacy in vivo.
囊型包虫病（CE）是由细粒棘球绦虫（E. granulosus）幼虫寄生于人和动物肝脏及肺脏引起的一种寄生虫人畜共患病。手术干预是CE治疗的主要手段，使用能使活原头蚴失活的杀头节剂。本研究首次评估了水飞蓟乙醇提取物及其与阿苯达唑联合应用在体外的杀头节效果。此外，在文献综述中，我们研究了多种伊朗药用植物对细粒棘球绦虫原头蚴的作用。
制备水飞蓟乙醇提取物，采用高效液相色谱（HPLC）分析确定提取物中各成分化合物的比例。使用MTT法在小鼠巨噬细胞（J774A.1细胞系）中评估细胞毒性。接下来，将提取物单独以及与阿苯达唑联合应用，在不同浓度下一式三份进行测试，分别孵育5、10、20、30和60分钟。最后，使用0.1%伊红作为活体染料测定原头蚴活力。采用PCR-RFLP和DNA测序技术对细粒棘球绦虫的基因型进行鉴定。
HPLC分析表明，水飞蓟乙醇提取物主要含有水飞蓟宁（14.41%）、异水飞蓟宾A（10.50%）和水飞蓟素（10.46%）。在浓度为500μg/ml孵育60分钟时，水飞蓟与阿苯达唑联合应用（79%）、水飞蓟乙醇提取物单独应用（77%）和阿苯达唑（69%）的杀头节效果最佳（P < 0.05）。分子分析表明，所有使用的囊肿均为G1基因型。
数据表明水飞蓟乙醇提取物在体外是一种潜在的杀头节剂；然而，需要进一步研究以确定其体内疗效。
