Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Urinary Schistosomiasis among Primary School Pupils in the Jidawa and Zobiya Communities of Jigawa State, Nigeria

Background

Urogenital schistosomiasis (UgS) is a parasitic disease caused by Schistosoma haematobium and can lead to chronic ill-health. Nigeria is endemic for schistosomiasis, but epidemiology of UgS has not been studied in most states. This study was conceived with the aim to contribute towards an accurate national picture of UgS in Nigeria. The prevalence of UgS and the associated risk factors were for the first time investigated among primary school pupils in Jidawa and Zobiya communities of the Dutse Local Government Area (LGAs) of Jigawa State, Nigeria.

Method

Focus group discussions with teachers and parents were conducted. After obtaining written consent from parents, questionnaires were administered to pupils to obtain socio-demographic data and information on water contact activities. Urine samples (279) were collected and processed by the urine filtration technique to evaluate haematuria and the presence of S. haematobium eggs.

Results

Prevalences of 65.7% (90/137) and 69.0% (98/142) were recorded in the Jidawa and Zobiya communities, respectively. In both communities, there was a significant association between gender and UgS: 63.3% of the infected pupils were males as compared to 36.7% females (χ2 = 5.42, p = 0.020). Grade 5 students had a significantly higher prevalence (χ2 = 17.919, p = 0.001) (80.0%) compared to those in grades 2, 3, 4, and 6 (63.8%, 66.7%, 61.5%, and 64.6%, respectively). Water contact activities showed that pupils involved in fishing, irrigation, and swimming were at greater risk of becoming infected in Jidawa and Zobiya, with odds ratios (risk factors) of 5.4 (0.994-28.862) and 4.1 (1.709-9.862), respectively (p = 0.05).

Conclusion

Both the Jidawa and Zobiya communities of the Dutse LGAs of Jigawa State are hyperendemic for UgS. In collaboration with the State Ministry of Health, mass administration of praziquantel was carried out in the Jidawa and Zobiya communities after this study.

Effects of some natural leads on Trypanosoma and Leishmania strains

Well-known medical herbal compounds including apigenin, daidzein, phyllanthin and tyramine were assessed against Trypanosoma and Leishmania protozoans. Two strains of the bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei: s427-WT and TbAT1-B48, and Leishmania major and Leishmania mexicana promastigotes were utilised. Among selected natural compounds, apigenin and daidzein displayed moderate activity against African trypanosomes with EC₅₀ 16 µM for wild-type sensitive control strain. Tyramine was not found to be very active for trypanosomes strains while all compounds were found to have trivial activity for the inhibition of Leishmania mexicana strains.

Kinetic and mutational analysis of the Trypanosoma brucei NBT1 nucleobase transporter expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveals structural similarities between ENT and MFS transporters

Parasitic protozoa are unable to synthesise purines de novo and thus depend on the uptake of nucleosides and nucleobases across their plasma membrane through specific transporters. A number of nucleoside and nucleobase transporters from Trypanosoma brucei brucei and Leishmania major have recently been characterised and shown to belong to the equilibrative nucleoside transporter (ENT) family. A number of studies have demonstrated the functional importance of particular transmembrane segments (TMS) in nucleoside-specific ENT proteins. TbNBT1, one of only three bona fide nucleobase-selective members of the ENT family, has previously been shown to be a high-affinity transporter for purine nucleobases and guanosine. In this study, we use the Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression system to build a biochemical model of how TbNBT1 recognises nucleobases. We next performed random in vitro and site-directed mutagenesis to identify residues critical for TbNBT1 function. The identification of residues likely to contribute to permeant binding, when combined with a structural model of TbNBT1 obtained by homology threading, yield a tentative three-dimensional model of the transporter binding site that is consistent with the binding model emerging from the biochemical data. The model strongly suggests the involvement of TMS5, TMS7 and TMS8 in TbNBT1 function. This situation is very similar to that concerning transporters of the major facilitator superfamily (MFS), one of which was used as a template for the threading. This point raises the possibility that ENT and MFS carriers, despite being considered evolutionarily distinct, might in fact share similar topologies and substrate translocations pathways.

A diminazene-resistant strain ofTrypanosoma brucei bruceiisolated from a dog is cross-resistant to pentamidine in experimentally infected albino rats

Trypanosomosis is a major cause of mortality for dogs in Nigeria and treatment with diminazene aceturate has steadily become less effective, either as a result of low quality of the locally available diminazene preparations or of drug resistance. To investigate these alternatives, samples of locally obtained drugs were analysed for diminazene aceturate content and a strain ofTrypanosoma brucei bruceiwas isolated from a diminazene-refractory dog in Nsukka, south-eastern Nigeria, and used to infect albino rats. The quality of diminazene aceturate-based preparations was variable, with two preparations containing less than 95% of the stated active compound. Rats infected withT. bruceiisolated from the dog were treated 7 and 10 days after infection either with 7 mg/kg diminazene aceturate (intraperitoneally, once) or with 4 mg/kg pentamidine isethionate (intramuscularly, 7 consecutive days). Relapse rates were 100% for both trypanocides in the groups of rat treated 10 days post-infection, and 83% and 50% of rats treated 7 days after infection relapsed to diminazene aceturate and pentamidine isethionate, respectively. Careful consideration of physiological parameters showed that pentamidine was only marginally superior to diminazene aceturate as applied in this study. It was concluded that dogs in Nigeria are infected with genuinely diminazene aceturate-resistant trypanosomes that appear to be cross-resistant to pentamidine isethionate.

Identification of the first pyrimidine nucleobase transporter in Leishmania: similarities with the Trypanosoma brucei U1 transporter and antileishmanial activity of uracil analogues

While purine transport has been widely studied in protozoa, almost nothing is known about their capacity to salvage pyrimidines. Here, we report a Leishmania major transporter with high affinity for uracil (Km=0.32+/-0.07 microM) which we designated LmU1. This transporter displayed a high degree of specificity, as it had virtually no affinity for cytosine, thymine or purine nucleobases, nor did it transport pyrimidine nucleosides. Highest affinity was for 5-fluorouracil. The results show that the permeant binding site of LmU1 interacts strongly with the keto groups of uracil, as shown by a low affinity for 2-thio- and 4-thiouracil. LmU1 appears to further bind uracil through a weak hydrogen bond with N(1)H of the pyrimidine ring in addition to a stronger H-bond with N(3)H. Substrate binding and selectivity were strikingly similar to that of the U1 transporter in the related kinetoplastid Trypanosoma brucei. Uracil analogues likely to be transported by LmU1 were also screened for antileishmanial activity, with 5-fluorouracil displaying strong activity against promastigotes and intracellular amastigotes. Overall, the results show that, like purine nucleobase transport, pyrimidine nucleobase transport function is very similar in L. major and T. brucei insect forms.

Uptake of pentamidine in Trypanosoma brucei brucei is mediated by three distinct transporters: implications for cross-resistance with arsenicals

The trypanocidal action of pentamidine is dependent on the rapid, selective accumulation of this drug by the parasite. We have investigated pentamidine transport by the bloodstream and procyclic life cycle stages of Trypanosoma brucei brucei. In bloodstream forms, 50 to 70% of [(3)H]pentamidine was transported by an adenosine-sensitive pentamidine transporter (ASPT1) that displayed a K(m) value of 0.26 +/- 0.03 microM and K(i) values of 0.45 +/- 0.04 and 2.5 +/- 0.8 microM for adenine and berenil, respectively. These values are very similar to those for inhibition of [(3)H]adenosine uptake by the P2 adenosine/adenine transporter, suggesting that ASPT1 and P2 may be identical. The remaining 30 to 50% of [(3)H]pentamidine transport was mediated by a low-capacity high-affinity pentamidine transporter (HAPT1) and a high-capacity low-affinity pentamidine transporter (LAPT1), with K(m) values of 36 +/- 6 nM and 56 +/- 8 microM, respectively. HAPT1 was inhibited by propamidine but displayed only low affinity to berenil and stilbamidine, whereas LAPT1 was not inhibited by any of these diamidines. Neither transporter was inhibited by melarsen oxide. In procyclics, an HAPT1-analog (procyclic pentamidine transporter; PPT1) was characterized, but no adenosine-sensitive pentamidine transport could be detected. Treatment with ionophores revealed that PPT1 may be a proton/pentamidine cotransporter.

Analysis of gamma-aminobutyric acidB receptor function in the in vitro and in vivo regulation of alpha-melanotropin-stimulating hormone secretion from melanotrope cells of Xenopus laevis

The activity of many endocrine cells is regulated by gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). The effects of GABA are mediated by GABAA and/or GABAB receptors. While GABAB receptors in the central nervous system have now been extensively characterized, little is known of the function and pharmacology of GABAB receptors on endocrine cells. In the amphibian Xenopus laevis, GABA inhibits the release of alpha MSH from the endocrine melanotrope cells through both GABAA and GABAB receptors. We have investigated the following aspects of the GABAB receptor of the melanotrope cells of X. laevis: 1) the pharmacology of this receptor, using antagonists previously established to demonstrate GABAB receptors in the mammalian central nervous system; 2) the relative contribution to the regulation of hormone secretion by the GABAA and GABAB receptors on melanotrope cells in vitro; and 3) the role of the GABAB receptor with respect to the physiological function of the melanotrope cell in vivo, i.e. regulation of pigment dispersion in skin melanophores in relation to background color. Our results demonstrate that phaclofen, 2-hydroxysaclofen, and 4-aminobutylphosphonic acid dose-dependently blocked the inhibition of alpha MSH release by GABAB receptor activation, but not by GABAA receptor activation. The GABAB receptor antagonist delta-aminovaleric acid appeared to be a selective agonist on the GABAB receptor of melanotrope cells. The inhibitory secretory response to a low dose of GABA (10(-5) M) was not affected by bicuculline, but was significantly reduced by phaclofen, indicating that at a low GABA concentration, the GABAB receptor mechanism would dominate in inhibiting the melanotrope cells. Different thresholds of activation may form the basis for differential action of GABA through both GABA receptor types. The tonic inhibition of alpha MSH release in animals adapted to a white background was not affected by 4-aminobutylphosphonic acid, indicating that the GABAB receptor is not (solely) involved in the in vivo inhibition of alpha MSH release in animals on a white background.