Mbugi Nicolaus Omari, Maina Geoffrey, Chacha Musa, Mbega Ernest
The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, School of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, P.O. Box 447, Arusha, Tanzania.
Mbeya University of Science and Technology, College of Science and Technical Education, P.O. Box 131, Mbeya, Tanzania.
Parasite Epidemiol Control. 2024 Oct 5;27:e00383. doi: 10.1016/j.parepi.2024.e00383. eCollection 2024 Nov.
Schistosomiasis is a disease caused by the flat worms under the genus . The disease is prominent in tropical and sub tropical countries and it is manifested in two forms; the acute and the chronic form. Treatment and control of the schistosomiasis is constrained with various factors including immerging worm resistance and selective efficacy of the current recommended drug of choice. This therefore calls for the search of new approaches to offset the problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of the methanolic extract from and against by using animal model. Swiss albino mice were used for the efficacy testing, whereby, for each extract, 5 groups of mice were used, and each contained 5 mice. Three different doses were administered to three groups, whereas the remaining two groups were used as negative and positive control arms. Efficacies were assessed based on the reduction of the worm eggs in the faeces and organs, body weight gain, loss of liver weight, as well as reduction of worm burden. Both extracts demonstrated significant egg and worm reduction, which was directly proportional to the dose increment. At the highest dose used, expressed the higher percentage egg reduction (73.33 %), whereas demonstrated the higher worm burden reduction (68.53 %). The present study provides strong evidence of the anti-schistosomal activity of the extracts from both and . . These findings are a significant step forward, suggesting that these plants could be a promising alternative medicine for the treatment of schistosomiasis. However, further investigations are warranted to isolate the compound responsible for this activity and to assess the sub-acute toxicity of the plant extracts. This next phase of research is crucial for advancing our understanding and potential use of these plant extracts.
血吸虫病是由 属的扁形虫引起的疾病。该疾病在热带和亚热带国家较为突出，有急性和慢性两种表现形式。血吸虫病的治疗和控制受到多种因素的制约，包括新出现的蠕虫抗药性以及当前推荐的首选药物的选择性疗效。因此，需要寻找新的方法来解决这些问题。本研究的目的是通过动物模型研究 和 的甲醇提取物对 的疗效。使用瑞士白化小鼠进行疗效测试，每种提取物使用5组小鼠，每组包含5只小鼠。给三组小鼠施用三种不同剂量，而其余两组用作阴性和阳性对照组。根据粪便和器官中虫卵的减少、体重增加、肝脏重量减轻以及虫负荷的减少来评估疗效。两种提取物均显示出显著的虫卵和虫体减少，且与剂量增加成正比。在使用的最高剂量下， 表现出更高的虫卵减少百分比（73.33%），而 表现出更高的虫负荷减少（68.53%）。本研究为 和 的提取物的抗血吸虫活性提供了有力证据。这些发现是向前迈出的重要一步，表明这些植物可能是治疗血吸虫病的有前景的替代药物。然而，有必要进一步研究分离负责这种活性的化合物，并评估植物提取物的亚急性毒性。研究的下一阶段对于增进我们对这些植物提取物的理解和潜在用途至关重要。
