Abdel-Khalek Reda Ramadan, Abdel-Ghaffar Fathy, Hamdi Salwa Abdel-Hamid, Ibrahim Amina M, Fol Mona Fathi, Mostafa Nesma Abbas
Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
Medical Malacology Department, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Giza, Egypt.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 20;15(1):17553. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-02161-1.
As one of the neglected tropical diseases, schistosomiasis is responsible for various social and economic issues in numerous developing countries. The intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni is the Biomphalaria alexandrina snails. A promising approach to mitigate the transmission of this disease is to use medicinal plants loaded with nanomaterials to control these snails. This research aimed to investigate the molluscicidal activity of Orobanche aegyptiaca- chitosan nanocomposite on B. alexandrina snails. The phytochemical screening of the tested plant verified its abundance of saponins, tannins, and flavonoids, which may be responsible for its cytotoxic effects. Chitosan nanoparticles were produced using the ionotropic gelation technique, while the O. aegyptiaca-chitosan nanocomposite was synthesized using the sonochemical approach. The characterization of the nanocomposite was carried out using TEM, XRD, and Zeta potential. The results demonstrated that the survival, fecundity (eggs/snail/week), and reproductive rates of B. alexandrina snails were substantially reduced upon exposure to the sub-lethal concentrations LC10 or LC25 of O. aegyptiaca-chitosan nanocomposite. Biochemically, it adversely affected some parameters, where it considerably (P < 0.05) raised ALT, AST, and ALP levels, while urea, uric acid, and cholesterol were significantly decreased compared to control snails. Furthermore, the antioxidant markers CAT, SOD, and GSH exhibited a substantial (P < 0.05) reduction, while MDA and NO levels increased at both sublethal concentrations. Histopathological examinations of the digestive gland of the treated B. alexandrina revealed a decrease in the size of the tubules, and the digestive and secretory cells degenerated. The hermaphrodite glands exhibited substantial damage in the reproductive tubules, with extensive damage to the gonadal cells, resulting in the loss of ova and sperm shapes. Also, the comet analysis showed a genotoxic effect of the nanocomposite, evidenced by significant changes in crucial comet assay parameters: tail length (TL), tail DNA percentage (TD), tail moment (TM), and olive tail moment (OTM). Conclusively, these findings confirmed the potential activity of O. aegyptiaca- chitosan nanocomposite as a molluscicidal agent against B. alexandrina to decrease schistosomiasis transmission.
作为被忽视的热带病之一，血吸虫病在许多发展中国家引发了各种社会和经济问题。曼氏血吸虫的中间宿主是埃及双脐螺。减轻这种疾病传播的一种有前景的方法是使用负载纳米材料的药用植物来控制这些螺类。本研究旨在调查埃及列当 - 壳聚糖纳米复合材料对埃及双脐螺的杀螺活性。对受试植物进行的植物化学筛选证实其富含皂苷、单宁和黄酮类化合物，这可能是其细胞毒性作用的原因。壳聚糖纳米颗粒采用离子凝胶法制备，而埃及列当 - 壳聚糖纳米复合材料则采用声化学方法合成。使用透射电子显微镜（TEM）、X射线衍射（XRD）和zeta电位对纳米复合材料进行表征。结果表明，暴露于埃及列当 - 壳聚糖纳米复合材料的致死浓度LC10或LC25后，埃及双脐螺的存活率、繁殖力（卵数/螺/周）和生殖率大幅降低。生化方面，它对一些参数产生了不利影响，其中谷丙转氨酶（ALT）、谷草转氨酶（AST）和碱性磷酸酶（ALP）水平显著升高（P < 0.05），而与对照螺相比，尿素、尿酸和胆固醇显著降低。此外，抗氧化标志物过氧化氢酶（CAT）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和谷胱甘肽（GSH）大幅降低（P < 0.05），而在两种致死浓度下丙二醛（MDA）和一氧化氮（NO）水平均升高。对经处理的埃及双脐螺消化腺的组织病理学检查显示，小管尺寸减小，消化和分泌细胞退化。雌雄同体腺在生殖小管中表现出严重损伤，性腺细胞广泛受损，导致卵子和精子形态丧失。此外，彗星分析显示纳米复合材料具有遗传毒性作用，关键彗星试验参数：尾长（TL）、尾DNA百分比（TD）、尾矩（TM）和橄榄尾矩（OTM）发生显著变化证明了这一点。总之，这些发现证实了埃及列当 - 壳聚糖纳米复合材料作为一种针对埃及双脐螺的杀螺剂以减少血吸虫病传播的潜在活性。
