Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Shebin-el-kom, Menoufia, Egypt.
Public Health and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Shebin-el-kom, Menoufia, Egypt.
J Helminthol. 2024 Jan 3;98:e3. doi: 10.1017/S0022149X23000937.
Schistosomiasis afflicts approximately 120 million individuals globally. The hepatic pathology that occurs due to egg-induced granuloma and fibrosis is commonly attributed to this condition. However, there is currently no efficacious treatment available for either of these conditions.Our study aimed to investigate the potential antifibrotic and antiparasitic properties of different doses of gallic acid (GA) in experimental schistosomiasis In addition, we investigated the outcomes of co-administering it with the standard anti-schistosomiasis treatment, praziquantel (PZQ).In experiment I, infected mice were administered GA at doses of 10, 20, or 40 mg/kg. Their effectiveness was evaluated through parasitological (worm and egg loads, granuloma number and diameter), pathological (fibrosis percentage and H-score of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs)), and functional (liver enzymes) tests. In experiment II, we investigated the optimal dosage that yielded the best outcomes. This dosage was administered in conjunction with PZQ and was evaluated regarding the parasitological, pathological, functional, and immunological (fibrosis-regulating cytokines) activities.Our findings indicate that the administration of 40 mg/kg GA exhibited the highest level of effectiveness in experiment I. In experiment II, it exhibited lower antiparasitic efficacy in comparison to PZQ. However, it surpassed PZQ in other tests. It showed enhanced outcomes when combined with PZQ.In conclusion, our findings reveal that GA only slightly increased the antischistosomal activity of PZQ. However, it was linked to decreased fibrosis, particularly when administrated with PZQ. Our pilot study identifies GA as a natural antifibrotic agent, which could be administered with PZQ to mitigate the development of fibrosis.
血吸虫病影响全球约 1.2 亿人。由卵诱导的肉芽肿和纤维化引起的肝病理变化通常归因于这种情况。然而，目前对于这两种情况都没有有效的治疗方法。
我们的研究旨在研究不同剂量没食子酸（GA）在实验性血吸虫病中的潜在抗纤维化和抗寄生虫特性。此外，我们还研究了将其与标准抗血吸虫病治疗药物吡喹酮（PZQ）联合使用的效果。
在实验 I 中，感染的小鼠给予 10、20 或 40 mg/kg 的 GA。通过寄生虫学（蠕虫和卵负荷、肉芽肿数量和直径）、病理学（纤维化百分比和肝星状细胞（HSCs）的 H 评分）和功能（肝酶）测试评估其效果。在实验 II 中，我们研究了产生最佳结果的最佳剂量。该剂量与 PZQ 一起给药，并评估其寄生虫学、病理学、功能和免疫学（纤维化调节细胞因子）活性。
我们的研究结果表明，在实验 I 中，给予 40 mg/kg GA 表现出最高的疗效。在实验 II 中，与 PZQ 相比，它的抗寄生虫功效较低。然而，在其他测试中，它超过了 PZQ。与 PZQ 联合使用时，它表现出更好的效果。
总之，我们的研究结果表明，GA 仅略微增加了 PZQ 的抗血吸虫活性。然而，它与纤维化的减少有关，尤其是与 PZQ 联合使用时。我们的初步研究确定 GA 是一种天然的抗纤维化药物，可与 PZQ 联合使用以减轻纤维化的发展。
