Immunology Divisions, Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt.
Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Parasite Immunol. 2022 Nov;44(11):e12945. doi: 10.1111/pim.12945. Epub 2022 Sep 6.
Schistosomiasis is still a major health problem affecting nearly 250 million people worldwide and causes approximately 280,000 deaths per year. The disease causes a serious granulomatous inflammatory response that produces significant mortality. Plumbagin reportedly displays anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, antioxidant and anthelmintic properties. This study further elucidates these properties. Mice were infected with schistosomes and divided into five groups: non-infected untreated (C); infected untreated (IU); non-infected treated with plumbagin (P); infected treated with plumbagin (PI) and infected treated with praziquantel (PZ). Mice treated with 20 mg plumbagin/kg body weight showed reduction of 64.28% and 59.88% in male and female animals, respectively. Also, the number of eggs/g tissue was reduced 69.39%, 68.79% and 69.11% in liver, intestine and liver/intestine combined, respectively. Plumbagin alleviated schistosome-induced hepatosplenomegaly and reduced hepatic granuloma and liver collagen content by 62.5% and 35.26%, respectively while PZQ reduced hepatic granuloma and liver collagen content by 41.11% and 11.21%, respectively. Further, plumbagin treatment significantly (p < .001) reduced IL-4, IL-13, IL-17, IL-37, IFN-γ, TGF-β and TNF-α levels and significantly (p < .001) upregulated IL-10. Plumbagin treatment restored hepatic enzymes activity to nearly normal levels and induced an increase in catalase, SOD, GSH, total thiol and GST in liver tissue homogenate. NO and LPO content was, however, decreased. Moreover, serum IgG levels significantly increased. The present study is the first to report immunomodulatory and schistosomicidal activities of plumbagin in schistosomiasis.
血吸虫病仍然是一个影响全球近 2.5 亿人口的主要健康问题，每年导致约 28 万人死亡。该疾病引起严重的肉芽肿性炎症反应，导致大量死亡。报道称，白花丹素具有抗炎、抗纤维化、抗氧化和驱虫作用。本研究进一步阐明了这些特性。将小鼠感染血吸虫并分为五组：未感染未治疗（C）；未感染未治疗（IU）；未感染用白花丹素治疗（P）；感染用白花丹素治疗（PI）和感染用吡喹酮治疗（PZ）。用 20mg/kg 体重的白花丹素治疗的小鼠，雄性和雌性动物的减少率分别为 64.28%和 59.88%。此外，肝、肠和肝/肠联合组织中的虫卵/组织数分别减少 69.39%、68.79%和 69.11%。白花丹素缓解了血吸虫引起的肝脾肿大，并分别使肝肉芽肿和肝胶原含量减少 62.5%和 35.26%，而吡喹酮则使肝肉芽肿和肝胶原含量减少 41.11%和 11.21%。此外，白花丹素治疗显著（p<0.001）降低了 IL-4、IL-13、IL-17、IL-37、IFN-γ、TGF-β和 TNF-α水平，并显著（p<0.001）上调了 IL-10。白花丹素治疗使肝酶活性恢复到接近正常水平，并诱导肝组织匀浆中过氧化氢酶、SOD、GSH、总巯基和 GST 增加。NO 和 LPO 含量降低。此外，血清 IgG 水平显著升高。本研究首次报道了白花丹素在血吸虫病中的免疫调节和杀血吸虫作用。
