Vet Parasitol. 2016 Aug 15;226:38-43. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2016.05.016. Epub 2016 Jun 23.
Author information
- 1Institute of Pathogenic Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; The Research Institute of Biomedical Nanotechnology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
- 2Institute of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
- 3Institute of Pathogenic Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
- 4Institute of Pathogenic Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China; The Research Institute of Biomedical Nanotechnology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China. Electronic address: landa021001@aliyun.com.
Abstract
Echinococcosis is a zoonotic infection caused by cestode species of the genus Echinococcus;
in addition, this zoonosis has long been neglected as a parasitic
disease and has limited treatment options. Clinical drugs such as
benzimidazole derivatives have limited treatment efficacy. The current study evaluated a novel drug, osthole, with low toxicity and high activity against Echinococcus in vitro and in vivo. The results in vitro indicated that the viability of Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces in the group treated with osthole (120μM) decreased by 100% within 3days. In vivo
experiments were conducted using parasite-infected mice. For this
purpose, three groups of infected mice were treated daily for 6 weeks
with albendazole (ABZ, 100mg/kg, positive control group), osthole (100mg/kg, experimental group), or honey/PBS (100mg/kg, negative control group), respectively. The osthole-
and ABZ-treated groups presented a significant reduction in wet weight
of metacestodes, increase in the level of interleukin (IL)-4 and the
percentage of eosinophils compared with the control group. Osthole exhibited a high activity against echinococcosis in vivo. In addition, the toxicity of osthole was evaluated via an in vitro
3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo(-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT)
assay, as well as via morphological observation and calculation of liver
and kidney function indexes in vivo. No obvious toxic effects of osthole
were observed in our study. Therefore, this novel drug may be a
promising alternative to benzimidazole in anti-echinococcosis
chemotherapy.
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
