Hepatoprotective activity of Eucalyptus camaldulensis extract in murine malaria mediated by suppression of oxidative and inflammatory processes.

Herbal extracts are promising agents against various parasitic diseases, such as malaria. This study aimed to evaluate the ameliorative action of Eucalyptus camaldulensis extract (ECE) against hepatic damage caused by Plasmodium chabaudi infection. Mice were allocated into five groups as follows: two groups served as the control non-infected groups that received distilled water and ECE, respectively; subsequent three groups were infected with 106 P. chabaudi parasitized erythrocytes; the last two groups were infected with the parasite and then treated with ECE and chloroquine. On day 8 post-infection, the parasite count increased inside erythrocytes (59.4% parasitemia in the infected group). Parasitemia was successfully reduced to 9.4% upon ECE treatment. Phytochemical screening using GC mass spectrometry revealed that ECE contained 23 phytochemical components. Total phenolics and flavonoids in ECE were 104 ± 2 and 7.1± 3 µg/mL, respectively, with 57.2% antioxidant activity. ECE ameliorated changes in liver histopathology and enzymatic activity of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase. In addition, ECE prevented oxidative damage induced by the parasite in the liver, as evidenced by the change in the liver concentrations of glutathione, nitric oxide, malondialdehyde, and catalase. Moreover, ECE was able to regulate the expression of liver cytokines, interleukins-1ß and 6, as well as IFN-γ mRNA. ECE possesses antiplasmodial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activity against liver injury induced by the parasite P. chabaudi.

Medicinal plants as a fight against murine blood-stage malaria.

OBJECTIVE: Malaria is an infectious parasitic disease affecting most of countries worldwide. Due to antimalarial drug resistance, researchers are seeking to find another safe efficient source for treatment of malaria. Since many years ago, medicinal plants were widely used for the treatment of several diseases. In general, most application is done first on experimental animals then human. In this article, medicinal plants as antimalarial agents in experimental animals were reviewed from January 2000 until November 2020. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this systematic review published articles were reviewed using the electronic databases NCBI, ISI Web of knowledge, ScienceDirect and Saudi digital library to check articles and theses for M.Sc/Ph.D. The name of the medicinal plant with its taxon ID and family, the used Plasmodium species, plant part used and its extract type and the country of harvest were described. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The reviewed plants belonged to 83 families. Medicinal plants of families Asteraceae, Meliaceae Fabaceae and Lamiaceae are the most abundant for use in laboratory animal antimalarial studies. According to region, published articles from 33 different countries were reviewed. Most of malaria published articles are from Africa especially Nigeria and Ethiopia. Leaves were the most common plant part used for the experimental malaria research. In many regions, research using medicinal plants to eliminate parasites and as a defensive tool is popular.

Biosynthesized silver nanoparticles regulate the iron status in the spleen of Plasmodium chabaudi-infected mice.

Malaria is a dangerous disease affecting millions around the globe. Biosynthesized nanoparticles are used against a variety of diseases including malaria worldwide. Here, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized from the leaf extracts of Indigofera oblongifolia have been used in the treatment of mice infected with Plasmodium chabaudi to evaluate the expression of iron regulatory genes in the spleen. Infrared spectroscopy was used to identify the expected classes of compounds in the extract. AgNPs were able to decrease the parasitemia nearly similar to the used reference drug, chloroquine. In addition, AgNPs significantly decreased the spleen index after infection. Moreover, the iron distribution was increased after the treatment. Finally, AgNPs could regulate the mice spleen iron regulatory genes, Lipocalin 2 (Lcn2), transferrin receptor 1 (TFR1) and hepcidin antimicrobial peptide (Hamp). Taken together, our findings indicate that AgNPs have antimalarial activity and can control the state of iron in spleen. We need further investigations to determine mechanisms of action of the AgNPs.

Antioxidant and anti-apoptotic effects of selenium nanoparticles against murine eimeriosis.

Eimeriosis is caused by a protozoan parasite of the genus Eimeria and infection affecting most domestic animal species. The aim of this research was to comprehend the impact of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) on eimeriosis induced by Eimeria papillata in mouse jejunum, and how they work as antioxidants and anti-apoptotic agents against eimeriosis. The numbers of meronts, gamonts, and developing oocysts of E. papillata reduced after the infected mice were treated with the SeNPs. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), and other oxidative stress-related molecules, such as glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), were assayed. E. papillata was able to change the redox status of the jejunal cells; this was confirmed by the elevation of the MDA and NO levels, and the decrease of the GSH levels and the activities of the antioxidant enzymes CAT and SOD. SeNP treatment significantly reversed this disturbance of the redox status. The expression levels of the apoptotic markers Bax and caspase-3 in the jejunal samples were evaluated using qRT-PCR. The SeNPs decreased the Bax and caspase-3 expression after being administered to the E. papillata-infected mice. Collectively, the SeNPs demonstrated antioxidant and anti-apoptotic activities against murine eimeriosis.

Biosynthesized silver nanoparticles protect against hepatic injury induced by murine blood-stage malaria infection.

Biosynthesized nanoparticles proposed to have antiplasmodial activities have attracted increasing attention for malaria that considered being one of the foremost hazardous diseases. In this study, Indigofera oblongifolia leaf extracts were used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), which were characterized utilizing transmission electron microscopy. We investigated the antiplasmodial and hepatoprotective effects of AgNPs against Plasmodium chabaudi-induced infection in mice. Treatment of the infected mice with 50 mg/kg AgNPs for seven days caused a significant decrease in parasitemia and reduced the histopatholoical changes in the liver, as indicated by Ishak's histology index. Further, the AgNPs alleviated the oxidative damage in the liver infected with P. chabaudi. This was evidenced by the changed levels of malondialdehyde, nitric oxide, and glutathione, as well as increased catalase activity after treatment with AgNPs. In addition, levels of the liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase were increased after treatment. Moreover, the findings showed the efficiency of AgNPs in improving the infected mice's erythrocyte counts and hemoglobin content. Generally, our results reported that AgNPs possess antiplasmodial and hepatoprotective properties.

Molecular characterisation of Hepatozoon aegypti Bashtar, Boulos & Mehlhorn, 1984 parasitising the blood of Spalerosophis diadema (Serpentes: Colubridae).

Hepatozoon aegypti Bashtar, Boulos & Mehlhorn, 1984 was first described from the blood of the diadem snake (Spalerosophis diadema) in Egypt. During an investigation of the diversity of reptilian haemogregarines in Saudi Arabia, seven diadem snakes (100% of the sample) were found to be highly parasitised by H. aegypti, with an average parasitaemia of 37% per 500 counted erythrocytes. A complete characterisation of this species with morphometrics and 18S rDNA sequence data is therefore presented here. The infection was found to be restricted to the erythrocytes with, frequently, single and, sometimes, double infections. Mature gamonts were sausage-shaped with round posterior and anterior extremities and measured 14 (13-17) × 3.5 (3-5) µm. The infected erythrocytes were hypertrophied with a faintly stained cytoplasm and longitudinally stretched nuclei. The merogonic stages occurred only in the endothelial cells of the snakes' lungs, and no stages were found in other organs. Mature meronts were round in shape, measured 18 (17-21) µm in diameter and were estimated to produce between 9 and 15 merozoites. Phylogenetic analysis based on the partial 18S small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences indicates that Hepatozoon aegypti cluster within a mixed clade of Hepatozoon species parasitising snakes, geckos and rodents from various geographic areas. Our results might reinforce the theory of prey-predator transmission in respect to the relationships of snake-host Hepatozoon species.