On the pathogenicity of attenuated Schistosoma mansoni cercariae released from metabolically disturbed Biomphalaria alexandrina

ABSTRACT

In this study, Biomphalaria alexandrina was treated with sublethal concentrations [LC10] of the dry powdered leaves Solanum nigrum or the whole dry Ambrosia maritima. The two plants affected the development of schistosome parasite within snails by disturbing the glycolytic flux, the most important metabolic pathway for schistosome-infected snails. Attenuated cercariae released from the treated snails were used to infect male albino mice to evaluate their pathogenicity compared with the control cercariae shed from the untreated snails. Most of the males and females detected in these animals measured 0.4-0.6 and 0.6-1.2 mm, respectively, released from mice infected with normal cercariae. The egg count in the liver and intestine of mice infected with attenuated cercariae was remarkably lower showing a reduced fecundity of worms developed from attenuated cercariae. The number and size of granulomatous reactions showed a remarkable reduction in the attenuated cercariae-infected mice. The biochemical analyses for the pathogenicity achieved with attenuated cercariae showed that while serum aspartate and alanine aminotransferases [AST and ALT] were more or less similar, depleted glycogen and elevated lipid peroxides were normalized when compared with those infected with normal cercariae