Department of Pharmacognosy, Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Pharmaceutical & Industrial Pharmacy, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Northern Illinois University, 1425 West Lincoln Highway, DeKalb, IL60115-2828, USA.
J Helminthol. 2022 Mar 3;96:e16. doi: 10.1017/S0022149X22000074.
Praziquantel (PZQ) remains the only drug of choice for the treatment of schistosomiasis, caused by parasitic flatworms. The widespread use of PZQ in schistosomiasis endemic areas for about four decades raises concerns about the emergence of resistance of Schistosoma spp. to PZQ under drug selection pressure. This reinforces the urgency in finding alternative therapeutic options that could replace or complement PZQ. We explored the potential of medicinal plants commonly used by indigenes in Kenya for the treatment of various ailments including malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhoea for their antischistosomal properties. Employing the Soxhlet extraction method with different solvents, seven medicinal plants Artemisia annua, Ajuga remota, Bredilia micranta, Cordia africana, Physalis peruviana, Prunus africana and Senna didymobotrya were extracted. Qualitative phytochemical screening was performed to determine the presence of various phytochemicals in the plant extracts. Extracts were tested against Schistosoma mansoni newly transformed schistosomula (NTS) and adult worms and the schistosomicidal activity was determined by using the adenosine triphosphate quantitation assay. Phytochemical analysis of the extracts showed different classes of compounds such as alkaloids, tannins, terpenes, etc., in plant extracts active against S. mansoni worms. Seven extracts out of 22 resulted in <20% viability against NTS in 24 h at 100 μg/ml. Five of the extracts with inhibitory activity against NTS showed >69.7% and ≥72.4% reduction in viability against adult worms after exposure for 24 and 48 h, respectively. This study provides encouraging preliminary evidence that extracts of Kenyan medicinal plants deserve further study as potential alternative therapeutics that may form the basis for the development of the new treatments for schistosomiasis.
吡喹酮（PZQ）仍然是治疗由寄生扁虫引起的血吸虫病的唯一选择药物。在血吸虫病流行地区广泛使用 PZQ 大约四十年后，人们对 PZQ 在药物选择压力下对血吸虫属的抗药性产生了担忧。这加剧了寻找替代治疗选择的紧迫性，这些替代治疗选择可以替代或补充 PZQ。我们探索了肯尼亚土著居民常用的药用植物治疗各种疾病（包括疟疾、肺炎和腹泻）的潜力，以评估它们的抗血吸虫特性。我们采用索氏提取法，用不同的溶剂提取了 7 种药用植物：黄花蒿、疣果冷水花、密叶冷水花、山芝麻、秘鲁酸浆、非洲李和双荚决明。进行了定性植物化学筛选，以确定植物提取物中存在的各种植物化学物质。提取物被测试对曼氏血吸虫新转化的尾蚴（NTS）和成虫的抗血吸虫活性，并通过三磷酸腺苷定量测定法来确定。提取物的植物化学分析表明，植物提取物中含有不同类别的化合物，如生物碱、单宁、萜类等，对血吸虫属的成虫具有活性。在 100μg/ml 时，22 种提取物中有 7 种在 24 小时内对 NTS 的存活率<20%。对 NTS 具有抑制活性的 5 种提取物在暴露 24 和 48 小时后，对成虫的存活率分别降低了>69.7%和≥72.4%。这项研究提供了令人鼓舞的初步证据，表明肯尼亚药用植物的提取物值得进一步研究，作为治疗血吸虫病的潜在替代疗法，可能为新疗法的开发奠定基础。
