RESUMEN
This work investigates the safety of Marazid in normal mice and its efficacy against the different developmental stages of S. mansoni worms. Safety of Mirazid was tested by short chronic oral administration of Mirazid [5% LD[50] five days/week] for one month. Animal body weights were recorded before drug administration and weekly throughout the observation periods. Animals were sacrificed one month post the start of Mirazid administration, vital organs were weighed, histopathological changes were examined, liver and kidney function tests were evaluated. After Mirazid adminisration, liver and kidney function levels were comparable to values in normal mice, yet there has been significant reduction in animal body weights by the end of treatment. Moreover, histopathological examinations of vital organs showed mild intestinal mucosal erosions and/or superficial ulcerations. The effect of Mirazid against the different developmental stages of S. mansoni worms was studied in 7 groups of infected mice [80 cercariae/mouse] treated 2 days, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 weeks post infection with a dose of 300 mg/kg/day for five consecutive days after an overnight fasting. All animals were sacrificed 9 weeks post infection. Data showed that Mirazid did not significantly reduce the total number of worms in any of the treated groups when compared to infected untreated group. The percentage of worm reductions were very modest [6-22%]. Tissue egg loads and percentage of S. mansoni egg developmental stages were comparable to that in infected untreated mice. In conclusion; Mirazid is relatively safe, yet ineffective against the different developmental stages of S. mansoni