RESUMEN
Clarisia racemosa Ruiz & Pav is a neotropical species found in humid forests from southern Mexico to southern Brazil. There are few studies related to the ethnopharmacological use of C. racemosa. Our objective was to evaluate the hydroalcoholic extract of C. racemosa as a potential antiparasitic agent. For this, we performed in vitro assays against strains of Leishmania amazonensis, Trypanosoma cruzi, Plasmodium falciparum, and Schistosoma mansoni. At the same time, immunomodulatory activity tests were carried out. The results demonstrated that the extract was able to stimulate and activate immune cells. In preliminary antiparasitic tests, structural modifications were observed in the promastigote form of L. amazonensis and in adult worms of S. mansoni. The extract was able to inhibit the growth of trypomastigote form of T. cruzi and finally showed low antiparasitic activity against strains of P. falciparum. It is pioneering work and these results demonstrate that C. racemosa extract is a promising alternative and contributes to the arsenal of possible forms of treatment to combat parasites. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-023-03799-2.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Snails of the genus Biomphalaria are intermediate hosts of Schistosoma mansoni, the main etiological agent of schistosomiasis mansoni, which affects about 236.6 million people in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The World Health Organization recommends the population control of vector snails as one of the strategies to reduce the prevalence and incidence of schistosomiasis. In this study, molluscicidal and antiparasitic activities of plumbagin, a naturally sourced naphthoquinone with a range of biological effects, were evaluated against B. glabrata and cercariae of S. mansoni. RESULTS: After 24 h of exposure, plumbagin demonstrated molluscicidal activity at low concentrations against embryos (LC50 of 0.56, 0.93, 0.68, 0.51 and 0.74 µg mL-1 for the blastula, gastrula, trochophore, veliger and hippo stage, respectively) and adult snails (LC50 of 3.56 µg mL-1 ). There were no changes in exposed snails' fecundity or fertility; however, plumbagin was able to increase the frequency of DNA damage and the number of hemocytes, with apoptosis and binucleation being the main hemocyte alterations. In addition, plumbagin showed death of S. mansoni cercariae in the concentration of 1.5 µg mL-1 in 60 min, while showing moderate toxicity to Artemia salina. CONCLUSION: Plumbagin proved to be a promising substance for the control of B. glabrata population, intermediate host of S. mansoni, as well as the cercariae, infective stage for humans (definitive host), while being moderately toxic to A. salina, a crustacean widely used in ecotoxicity tests. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.
