Schistosomiasis, a crippling ailment that afflicts over 220 million people worldwide. Yet or up till now, there is no vaccine for schistosomiasis, and chemotherapy relies heavily on a single drug, the praziquantel. The present study was undertaken to investigate the therapeutic effect of Monophosphoryl Lipid A (MPLA) as an adjuvant in soluble egg antigen (SEA) vaccinated mice against the deleterious pathological impacts induced in hepatic tissues of mice by Schistosoma mansoni infection. In addition, to study the associated parasitological, immunological and biochemical parameters. Parasitological parameters showed that intraperitoneal injection of MPLA into SEA-vaccinated and S. mansoni-infected mice was effective to a significant degree in reducing the worm and egg burden, granuloma count and diameter as well as the total area of infection in their livers versus SEA-untreated but infected ones. In addition, MPLA showed ameliorative action on the elevated liver oxidative stress marker, including malondialdehyde (MDA) and decrease in the level of the antioxidant enzymes, reduced glutathione (GSH) and catalase (CAT) which may have a role in the liver damage and fibrosis due to S. mansoni infection. In conclusion, treatment with MPLA has multi-functions in attenuating the deleterious impacts of S. mansoni infection in mice livers. Its effects are mediated through a reduction of ova count, worm burden, granuloma diameter and amelioration of antioxidant defense systems, and liver function biomarkers.
Filariasis is a filarial worm parasitic disease caused by small roundworms that dwell in human blood and tissues. In several analytical procedures, graphene oxide (GO) sheets are ideal Nano carriers. Using antibody-functionalized GO sheets, this work created a modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent test (ELISA) approach. The assay's limit of detection (LOD) and cost were dramatically decreased as a result of this improvement. Serum samples from affected persons were gathered across Egypt's governorates. The microfilarial status of the individuals was determined by membrane filtration, which was then seen under a light microscope. After receiving informed consent, sera were obtained from 27 microfilaremia patients (MF), 21 with chronic lymphatic illness (CL), and 20 microfilariae negative healthy persons living in non-endemic locations, as well as sera from 20 other parasites affected patients. Following their consent, all of these individuals underwent the following procedures: history taking, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations, which included examination of blood samples for microfilaria using thick blood film and serological tests for detection of the circulating filarial antigen (CFA) using monoclonal antibody-based Og4C3 commercial kit ELISA, classical recommended mapping tool (ICT test), and graphene nanoparticles-based ELISA. None of the 20 non-endemic normal sera tested positive for filarial antigen, demonstrating that the commercial ELISA kit is sensitive. On the other hand, 23/27 microfilaraemia sera and 7/21 chronic lymphatic patients' sera were found using ICT test. Filarial antigen was found in the serum of 18/27 microfilaraemia patients and 9/21 chronic lymphatic patients using sandwich ELISA. Filarial antigen was found in 25/27 microfilaraemia sera and 6/21 chronic lymphatic patients' sera using a GO sheets nanoparticles-based ELISA. Finally, utilizing a modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) approach, GO nanoparticle sheets are effective nano-analytical tools for detecting human filariasis.
Schistosomias is a prevalent parasitic disease in tropical and sub-tropical areas, which comes in the second place in terms of socioeconomic and public health burden. Around 600 million people in 74 countries are infected yearly, predominantly in the developing world. The aim of this work was to assess the efficiency of three extracts from Carica papaya (methanol, ethanol and butanol extracts) for their molluscicidal and anti-schistosomal activities. The LC50 of methanol, ethanol and butanol extracts of Carica papaya against B. alexandrinea were 180, 499.3 and 509.1 mg/L while the respective LC90 values were 220.3, 700.6, 769.6 mg/L respectively. The effect of these extracts on Biomphalaria alexandrina snails and larval stages of Schistosma mansoni, for miracidia the LC50 of methanol, ethanol and butanol extracts of Carica papaya against miracidia were 3.4, 15.4 and 8.1 mg/L, respectively, while the respective LC90 values were 8.4, 38.2, 11.2 mg/L, and for cercariae the LC50 of methanol, ethanol and butanol extracts of Carica papaya were 2, 20 and 4 mg/L, while the respective LC90 values were 13.5, 80.5, 18.5 mg/L respectively was evaluated, in addition to flowcytometric analysis of CD4, CD25, FOXP3 and TGF-β levels during S. mansoni infection in mice. The in-vivo results showed that the three extracts have variable potential against snails and miracidia and cercariae of S. mansoni. The mortality rate in B. alexandrina snails for methanol, ethanol and butanol extracts of Carcia papay were 86%, 45% and 64%, respectively. While it was 83%, 35% and 66%, respectively in miracidia and 92%, 40% and 70%, respectively in cercariae. The results indicated that methanol extract from Carica papaya recorded higher activity against snails, miracidia and cercariae. The levels of CD4, CD25, FOXP3 regulatory T (Treg) cells were decreased significantly (p<0.001) in infected mice compared to healthy controls. However, there was a significant (p<0.001) increase in levels of TGF-β. A significant increase in the levels of CD4, CD25, and FOXP3 Treg in Carica papaya treated group compared to infected control group, with a significant (p<0.001) decrease in TGF-β level than infected group. In conclusion, methanol extract was more effective at concentration of LC50 180 and LC90 220.3 than ethanol and butanol extracts of Carica papaya therefore controlling B. alexandrina snails by methanol extract is a promising way as it is an eco-friendly strategy in rural areas of developing countries, where schistosomiasis is endemic. Moreover, the increased immune defense mechanism in treated group with the same extracts is a promising target for new immune modulatory strategies against schistosomiasis.
Nanotechnology is a promising arena for generating new applications in Medicine. To successfully functionalised nanoparticles for a given biomedical application, a wide range of chemical, physical and biological factors have to be taken into account. Silica-coated nanoparticles, (SiO2NP) exhibit substantial diagnostic activity owing to their large surface to volume ratios and crystallographic surface structure. This work aimed to evaluate the advantage of bioconjugation of SiO2NP with PAb against Toxoplasma lyzate antigen (TLA) as an innovative diagnostic method for human toxoplasmosis. This cross-sectional study included 120 individuals, divided into Group I: 70 patients suspected for Toxoplasma gondii based on the presence of clinical manifestation. Group II: 30 patients harboring other parasites than T. gondii Group III: 20 apparently healthy individuals free from toxoplasmosis and other parasitic infections served as negative control. Detection of circulating Toxoplasma antigen was performed by Sandwich ELISA and Nano-sandwich ELISA on sera and pooled urine of human samples. Using Sandwich ELISA, 10 out of 70 suspected Toxoplasma-infected human serum samples showed false negative and 8 out of 30 of other parasites groups were false positive giving 85.7% sensitivity and 84.0% specificity, while the sensitivity and specificity were 78.6% and 70% respectively in urine samples. Using Nano-Sandwich ELISA, 7 out of 70 suspected Toxoplasma-infected human samples showed false negative results and the sensitivity of the assay was 90.0%, while 4 out of 30 of other parasites groups were false positive giving 92.0% specificity, while the sensitivity and specificity were 82.6% and 80% respectively in urine samples. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that loading SiO2 nanoparticles with pAb increased the sensitivity and specificity of Nano-sandwich ELISA for detection of T.gondii antigens in serum and urine samples, thus active (early) and light infections could be easily detected.