Insulin growth factor inhibitor as a potential new anti-schistosoma drug: An in vivo experimental study

Fluconazole as Schistosoma mansoni cytochrome P450 inhibitor: In vivo murine experimental study

Schistosomiasis is a chronic disease caused by blood flukes of the Schistosoma spp. New approaches against this morbid infection are needed. In this study, we investigated fluconazole (FLZ) as an inhibitor of Schistosoma mansoni cytochrome P450 (S. mansoni CYP450) enzyme at different life cycle stages. We compared FLZ (10 mg/kg for two days) effects when administrated early 5 days post-infection (dpi) (Early I) and 21 dpi (Early II) versus late administration 60 dpi on S. mansoni CYP450 gene expression. These different FLZ treatment regimens were evaluated in experimentally infected mice with S. mansoni. This study showed that administration of FLZ, whether early or late during schistosomal infection, resulted in significant inhibition of S. mansoni CYP450 expression in the adult stage (P < 0.001). Early exposure to FLZ during the first week of infection significantly decreased the number of schistosomula that reached the adult stage compared to the infected control group and resulted in significant inhibition of S. mansoni CYP450 expression (P < 0.001) in the adult stage. In the Early I group, the fewest number of eggs per liver tissue gram was recorded. Our data suggested that FLZ is a S. mansoni CYP450 gene expression inhibitor with greater effect on schistosomula stages.

The Effect of Different Formulations of Praziquantel in Reducing Worms in the Prepatent Period of Schistosomiasis in Murine Models

Schistosomiasis is a widely distributed parasitic disease and one of the most important neglected tropical diseases globally, for which Praziquantel® (PZQ) is the only available treatment. In this context, tests with new PZQ formulations become relevant for disease control. This study evaluated the effects of PZQ treatment in the prepatent phase of schistosomiasis using two formulations: nanoencapsulated (PZQ-NANO) and active pharmaceutical ingredient (PZQ-API). Five experimental groups were established, for which the following serological parameters were evaluated: ALT, AST, ALP, and TP. Animals treated with PZQ-API at 15 and 30 days post-infection showed decreased eggs per gram of feces (EPG) compared to untreated infected animals. The same animals showed reductions of 63.6 and 65.1%, respectively, at 60 days post-infection. Animals treated with PZQ-NANO experienced no significant changes in EPG at any time of observation. Animals treated with either PZQ-API or PZQ-NANO had higher ALT and AST levels in the patent period (60 and 90 days post-infection). Treatment with PZQ, either API or NANO, at 15 days post-infection reduced AST, ALT, and TP levels. It is concluded that prepatent treatment with PZQ-API can reduce the parasite load of infected animals and that treatment at 15 days post-infection can prevent increased serum levels of ALT, AST, and TP.

Review: Schistosoma mansoni phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway

Schistosoma mansoni worms are under a milieu of external and internal signaling pathways. The life-cycle stages are exposed to enormous stimuli within the mammalian and the snail hosts and as free-living stages in the fresh water. Furthermore, there is a unique interplay between the male and the female worms involving many stimuli from the male essential for full development of the female. PI3K/Akt/mTOR is an evolutionarily divergent signal transduction pathway universal to nearly every multicellular organism. This work reviews the Schistosoma mansoni PI3K/Akt/mTOR signal pathways and the involvement of the signal in the worms' physiology concerning the uptake of glucose, reproduction and survival. The inhibitors of the signal pathway used against Schistosoma mansoni were summarized. Given the importance of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signal pathway, its inhibition could be a promising control strategy against schistosomiasis.

Targeting oncogenic mutations in colorectal cancer using cryptotanshinone

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most prevalent types of cancer in the world and ranks second in cancer deaths in the US. Despite the recent improvements in screening and treatment, the number of deaths associated with CRC is still very significant. The complexities involved in CRC therapy stem from multiple oncogenic mutations and crosstalk between abnormal pathways. This calls for using advanced molecular genetics to understand the underlying pathway interactions responsible for this cancer. In this paper, we construct the CRC pathway from the literature and using an existing public dataset on healthy vs tumor colon cells, we identify the genes and pathways that are mutated and are possibly responsible for the disease progression. We then introduce drugs in the CRC pathway, and using a boolean modeling technique, we deduce the drug combinations that produce maximum cell death. Our theoretical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of Cryptotanshinone, a traditional Chinese herb derivative, achieved by targeting critical oncogenic mutations and enhancing cell death. Finally, we validate our theoretical results using wet lab experiments on HT29 and HCT116 human colorectal carcinoma cell lines.

Taenia solium insulin receptors: promising candidates for cysticercosis treatment and prevention

Insulin signaling pathway is an ancient and highly conserved pathway known to play critical roles in cell growth, control and metabolic regulation. In this study, we identified and characterized two insulin receptor genes (TsIR-1316 and TsIR-4810) from Taenia solium. TsIR-1316 was grouped with E. multilocularis insulin receptor (EmIR-1) and TsIR-4810 was closer to Taenia pisiformis insulin-like growth factor receptor (TpIR) on the same branch with a very high bootstrap value. TsIR-1316 was located on the integument of larvae and adult worms, as well as the ovary of adults and eggs. Alternatively, TsIR-4810 was located in the parenchyma and reproductive organs of the adult worms. By using in vitro cultivation systems with Cysticercus pisiformis as a model, we demonstrated that anti-TsIRs-LBD antibodies could effectively block the insulin signaling pathway, resulting in reduced phosphorylation of the insulin receptor as well as lower levels of glucose uptake and glycogen synthesis. The rabbits immunized with TsIR-1316-LBD, TsIR-4810-LBD and TsIR-1316-LBD + TsIR-4810-LBD produced protection against infection of T. pisiformis as demonstrated by a 94.6%, 96% and 80% reduction of establishment of larvae, respectively. These data suggested that TsIR-1316-LBD and TsIR-4810-LBD are promising vaccine candidates or novel drug targets against swine cysticercosis.