Osmoregulatory and tegumental ultrastructural damages to protoscoleces of hydatid cysts Echinococcus granulosus induced by fungal endophytes

Evaluation of structural changes of Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces following exposure to different protoscolicidal solutions evaluated by differential interference contrast microscopy

The present study was aimed to assess the structural changes in protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto following exposure to different natural and chemical protoscolicidal agents using differential interference contrast (DIC)/Nomarski microscopy. Protoscoleces of sheep's liver cysts were collected aseptically. Individually, about 1000 protoscoleces were exposed to 0.5% silver nitrate, 20% hypertonic saline solution, 0.5% cetrimide solution and two different concentrations of garlic chloroformic extraction as well as phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The protoscoleces viability was assessed using 0.1% eosin solution, and structural modifications in the protoscoleces were examined by DIC/Nomarski microscopy. The results revealed the degeneration of the tegument, disorganization of the hooks, and reduction of the size of the protoscoleces exposed to cetrimide, hypertonic sodium chloride, and silver nitrate. Furthermore, calcareous corpuscles became blurred and opaque and their numbers decreased in all the exposed samples except, those in PBS. The exposed protoscoleces to cetrimide and hypertonic sodium chloride solution showed extensive degeneration of the tegument and disorganization of the hooks. In the group exposed to 200 mg/ml chloroformic garlic extract, the protoscoleces' width decreased. The length, width, and number of calcareous corpuscles also decreased significantly in the silver nitrate-exposed protoscoleces. The study concludes that protoscoleces exposed to different solutions; cetrimide 0.5% and hypertonic sodium chloride 20% caused more pronounced structural changes in the exposed protoscoleces. These changes were well demonstrated by DIC microscopy and can be used as a supplementary tool to evaluate the effects of protoscolicidal agents.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12639-023-01632-4.

Protoscolicidal activity of Atriplex halimus leaves extract against Echinococcus granulosus protoscoleces

Cystic echinococcosis, an endemic zoonosis in Algeria, is caused by the development of the helminth Echinococcus granulosus. Surgery remains the main treatment despite inducing relapse and several adverse reactions. In this context, natural scolicidal agents seem to be promising tools to overcome these reactions. In our study, we evaluated the phytochemical contents, antioxidant activity and scolicidal effect of Atriplex halimus. In this context, the aqueous extract from AH leaves (AHE) was subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening by HPLC. The in vitro antioxidant activity was determined by DPPH test. The cytotoxicity of AHE was evaluated in murine peritoneal macrophages and cell viability was examined by MTT assay. Moreover, different concentrations of AHE (20, 40, 50, 60 and 100 mg/ml) were tested on E. granulosus protoscoleces (PSC) cultures, during different times of incubation (15, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 min). The viability was evaluated by eosin exclusion test. The morphological and ultrastructural damages were evaluated by SEM. Our results indicate that total phenolic and flavonoids contents were 37.93 μg of Gallic acid equivalent per mg of extract (GAE/mg E) and 18.86 μg of Quercetin equivalent per mg (QE/mg E) respectively. Furthermore, AHE has an antioxidant activity with an IC50 of 0.95 mg/ml. Interestingly, the extracts did not exhibit any cytotoxic effect against murine peritoneal macrophages. Moreover, our study indicated a significant scolicidal activity time- and dose-dependent. At 60 and 100 mg/ml; and after 120 min of incubation; the mortality rate was 99.36 and 100%, respectively. The parasite's tegument is one of the plant's targets as demonstrated by SEM. Our findings show the benefits of Atriplex halimus extract as a new promising scolicidal tool in hydatid cyst treatment.

Antioxidant and scolicidal activities of four Iranian Mentha species (Lamiaceae) in relation to phenolic elements

Introduction: There is a growing interest of industry to replace synthetic chemicals by natural products with bioactive properties from plant origin. The present study reported the antioxidant activity and scolicidal effects of the crude extracts from Mentha spicata, M. aquatica, M. longifolia, and M. × piperita var. citrata growing in Iran. Methods: Total phenolic, flavonoid and flavonol contents of the four Mentha taxa were examined. Two antioxidant assays i.e. free radical scavenging activity (DPPH assay) and reducing power assay were used for determining the antioxidant capacity of the alcoholic extracts. Scolicidal activity of serial dilutions (15–200 mg/mL) of Mentha extracts was evaluated after 1, 5, 10, 20 and 30 minutes of exposure time. Results: Methanol was the solvent yielding the highest values of total phenolic (TPC), flavonoid (TFC) and flavonol contents (TFvC). On the other hand, the extracts from M. × piperita var. citrata gave the highest total phenolic content (191.6 mg gallic acid equivalent per g; GAE/g), total flavonoid content (57.0 mg quercetin per g; QE/g) and total flavonol content (15.3 mg QE/g) values. The methanol extracts of M. × piperita var. citrata also gave the strongest DPPH radical scavenging activity (83.2%), whereas the reducing power yielded absorbance values between 0.189 in M. spicata and 1.16 in M. × piperita var. citrata. The highest scolicidal activity (99.54%) was observed in 200 mg/mL methanol extract of M. aquatica after 30 minutes of application. Conclusion: Overall, M. × piperita var. citrata and M. aquatica could be the taxa of choice for future supplementary studies.

Piper Species: A Comprehensive Review on Their Phytochemistry, Biological Activities and Applications

Piper species are aromatic plants used as spices in the kitchen, but their secondary metabolites have also shown biological effects on human health. These plants are rich in essential oils, which can be found in their fruits, seeds, leaves, branches, roots and stems. Some Piper species have simple chemical profiles, while others, such as Piper nigrum, Piper betle, and Piper auritum, contain very diverse suites of secondary metabolites. In traditional medicine, Piper species have been used worldwide to treat several diseases such as urological problems, skin, liver and stomach ailments, for wound healing, and as antipyretic and anti-inflammatory agents. In addition, Piper species could be used as natural antioxidants and antimicrobial agents in food preservation. The phytochemicals and essential oils of Piper species have shown strong antioxidant activity, in comparison with synthetic antioxidants, and demonstrated antibacterial and antifungal activities against human pathogens. Moreover, Piper species possess therapeutic and preventive potential against several chronic disorders. Among the functional properties of Piper plants/extracts/active components the antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, and neuropharmacological activities of the extracts and extract-derived bioactive constituents are thought to be key effects for the protection against chronic conditions, based on preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies, besides clinical studies. Habitats and cultivation of Piper species are also covered in this review. In this current work, available literature of chemical constituents of the essential oils Piper plants, their use in traditional medicine, their applications as a food preservative, their antiparasitic activities and other important biological activities are reviewed.

Natural products applied against hydatid cyst protoscolices: A review of past to present

Echinococcus granulosus is the causative agent of cystic echinococcosis (CE), which is distributed all around the world. CE is one of the most important global parasitic infectious diseases, both in humans and animals. This parasite causes hydatid cysts that can be lodge at different organs of host such as liver, lung even in heart and brain which may lead to death. Presently, numerous scolicidal chemical agents have been administrated for inactivation of the hydatid cyst contents. Because of increasing resistance and adverse effects of medications include abnormalities of liver function, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headache; there is a need to find alternative therapies either with the least or without side effects. Recently, there is a high tendency among researchers to evaluate and present herbal plants as alternative option due to being inexpensive, easy available, low side effects and toxicity. Till now, many efforts have been conducted on herbal extracts against protoscolices of hydatid cysts throughout the world. Therefore, the current review systematically searched the following electronic databases: PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar on published papers according to the keywords. In addition, a comprehensive list of medicinal plants was prepared and some of these herbal plants which showed the best efficacy and promising results are discussed elaborately.

Scolicidal agents for protoscolices of Echinococcus granulosus hydatid cyst: Review of literature

Hydatid cyst is the larval stage of dog tape worm Echinococcus granulosus. Protoscolices are parasite larvae that develop into adult worms in the final host intestine. During surgical treatment of human hydatidsosis spillage of live protoscolices is the major cause of hydatidosis recurrence. To prevent this problem scolicidal agent such as hypertonic salt are used to kill the protoscolices that may disseminate into the patient's tissues during surgery. However, they may have some unacceptable side effects. To find scolicidal agents with high efficacy, the effect of different compounds on protoscolices of hydatid cyst in vitro has been reviewed. Using PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and SID databases articles about scolicidal effects of different agents on protoscolices of hydatid cyst in vitro were collected. Foeniculum vulgare after 5 min, metalonic extracts of Allium sativum and hypertonic saline after 10 min, and warm water after 2 min kill all alive protoscolices. The above agents that in minimum time and minimum concentration have 100% scolicidal activity, could be good candidates for further investigations.