Aminu S, Chechet GD, Alkhalil SS, Sobeh M, Daoud R, Simelane MB, Onyike E, Ibrahim MA. Therapeutic efficacy of β-sitosterol treatment on
Trypanosoma congolense infection, anemia development, and trans-sialidase (
TconTS1) gene expression.
Front Microbiol 2023;
14:1282257. [PMID:
37886075 PMCID:
PMC10598747 DOI:
10.3389/fmicb.2023.1282257]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
African animal trypanosomiasis hinders sustainable livestock productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. About 17 million infected cattle are treated with trypanocides annually but most of the drugs are associated with drawbacks, necessitating the search for a promising chemotherapeutic agent.
Objectives
In this study, the effects of β-sitosterol on Trypanosoma congolense infection were investigated along with its effect on the trans-sialidase gene expressions.
Results
Oral treatment with β-sitosterol at 15 and 30 mg/kg body weight (BW) for 14 days significantly (p < 0.05) reduced parasitemia and ameliorated the parasite-induced anemia. Also, the parasite-induced increase in serum urea level and renal histopathological damage scores in addition to renal hypertrophy was significantly (p < 0.05) reverted following treatment with 30 mg/kg BW β-sitosterol. The compound also significantly (p < 0.05) down-regulated the expression of TconTS1 but not TconTS2, TconTS3, and TconTS4. Correlation analysis between free serum sialic acid with the TconTS1 and TconTS2 gene variants revealed negative correlations in the β-sitosterol-treated groups although they were non-significant (p > 0.05) in the group treated with 15 mg/kg BW β-sitosterol. Similarly, a non-significant negative (p > 0.05) correlation between the biomolecule and the TconTS3 and TconTS4 gene variants was observed in the β-sitosterol-treated groups while positive correlations were observed in the infected untreated control group.
Conclusion
The observed effect of β-sitosterol on T. congolense infection could make the compound a possible template for the design of novel trypanocides.
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