Abstract
Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms (blood fluke) of the genus Schistosoma. Parasites acquire most nutrients for their development and sustainment within the definitive host either by ingestion into the gut or across the body surface. Over the years, the best conditions for long-term maintenance of parasites in vitro have been thoroughly established. In our hands, 1H-NMR spectroscopy represents a powerful tool to characterize the metabolic changes in S. mansoni in response to culturing condition perturbations. In order to compare the metabolic fingerprint of ex vivo and parasites cultured in vitro with or without the supplement of reduced glutathione, we conducted a pilot study applying the 1H-NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics. We obtained new insight into specific metabolic pathways modulated under these different experimental conditions.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to dedicate this work to our beloved friend and colleague, Livia Pica-Mattoccia. She was a keen mentor with passion for people and life. We will miss your smile and your kindness.
Special thanks are due to Dr. Alberto Bresciani, Department of Translational and Discovery Research, IRBM S.p.A, for many stimulating ideas and discussions; to Prof. Laura Micheli (University of Tor Vergata), who kindly provided the portable sensor for oxygen measurements; to Stefania Colantoni for mouse husbandry; to Pierluigi Palozzo for dishwashing lab technical support; and to Vincenzo Altomonte, for valuable advice about data analysis and scaling.
Funding
The following grants partially supported this work: CNR (National Research Council)-CNCCS (Collezione Nazionale di Composti Chimici e Centro di screening) “Rare, Neglected and Poverty Related Diseases - Schistodiscovery Project” DSB.AD011.006 and Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca PRIN 20154JRJPP_006 “Towards multi-stage drugs to fight poverty-related and neglected parasitic diseases: synthetic and natural compounds directed against Leishmania, Plasmodium and Schistosoma life stages and assessment of their mechanisms of action.”
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Animal work was approved by the National Research Council animal welfare committee (OPBA) and by the Italian Ministry of Health (authorizations no. 25/2014-PR and no. 336/2018-PR). All experiments were conducted following the 3R rules according to the ethical and safety guidelines for using animals in biomedical research provided by the relevant national and international laws.
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Fustaino, V., Gimmelli, R., Guidi, A. et al. Comparative metabolic profiling by 1H-NMR spectroscopy analysis reveals the adaptation of S. mansoni from its host to in vitro culture conditions: a pilot study with ex vivo and GSH-supplemented medium-cultured parasites. Parasitol Res 121, 1191–1198 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07426-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-022-07426-6