Abstract
Schistosomiasis is a tropical parasitic disease, in which the major clinical manifestation includes hepatosplenomegaly, portal hypertension, and organs fibrosis. Clinically, treatment of schistosomiasis involves the use of praziquantel (PZQ) and supportive care, which does not improve the patient’s outcome as liver injuries persist. Here, we report for the first time the effect of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) and/or praziquantel (PQZ) on S. mansoni, hepatic granuloma, serum markers for liver function and oxidative damage in acute schistosomiasis. Infected mice were divided into control, NAC, PZQ and NAC+PZQ groups and uninfected into control and NAC groups. After infection, NAC (200 mg/kg/day) was administrated until the 60th day and PZQ (100 mg/kg/day) from the 45th to the 49th day, both orally. On day 61, the mice were euthanized for serum markers for liver function. Worms were recovered, fragments of intestine employed to ascertain the oviposition pattern, and the liver was used for histopathological analysis, histomorphometry, egg and granuloma counting and oxidative stress marker assays. NAC reduced the burden of worms and eggs and increased the dead eggs in intestinal tissue. NAC+PZQ brought about reduction in granulomatous infiltration and NAC and/or PZQ reduced levels of ALT, AST, and alkaline phosphatase and increased albumin. NAC, PZQ or NAC+PZQ reduced levels of the superoxide anion, lipid peroxidation and protein carbonyl and increased sulfhydryl groups. The reduction in parasitological parameters, granulomatous inflammation and oxy-redox imbalance suggests NAC acts as a adjuvant in treatment of acute experimental schistosomiasis.
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Acknowledgements
This work received financial support from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES—Grant Nº.001) and Fundação de Amparo a Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE). H.D.A. Araújo thanks FACEPE for the Researcher Fixation Scholarship (BFP-0080-2.08/20).
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AdLA and MCPdAA: Albuquerque designed the study protocol. AdLA, HDAdA, AMG, SBdA, RLdS, ZPdA, MBdSM, VMOS and MCPdAA: carried out the assays and/or were involved in the analysis and interpretation of all data. AdLA, HDAdA, VMOS and MCPdAA: contributed to drafting the manuscript and/or critically revising the paper and intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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de Lima Aires, A., de Araújo, H.D.A., Galvão, A.M. et al. Schistosomicidal, hepatoprotective and antioxidant activities of the N-acetyl-L-cysteine and/or praziquantel in experimental acute mansonic schistosomiasis. 3 Biotech 13, 215 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-023-03639-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-023-03639-3