Anti-echinococcal effects of sumac, Rhus coriaria, in a murine model of cystic echinococcosis: Parasitological and molecular evaluation

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is one of the most important zoonotic diseases caused by the metacestode stage of Echinococcus granulosus. The disease results in a space-occupying hydatid cyst in different organs mainly liver and lungs (Thompson, 2017). CE is one of the major zoonoses in the Mediterranean countries and South America (Borhani et al., 2020). In addition to public health challenges, CE causes a lot of economic losses due to livestock organ condemnations and decreasing animal products (Kern et al., 2017).

Hydatid cysts can induce pressure on adjacent tissues and cause pathological symptoms. Chemotherapy and surgery are used for the treatment of CE. Benzimidazole derivatives, such as albendazole and mebendazole in high doses and for a long time are the most effective chemical agents for non-surgical treatment of the disease, however long-term albendazole therapy is usually associated with side effects including impaired liver function and leukopenia (Wen et al., 2019). Surgery is known as the most efficient treatment option for human CE, however it faces limitations, such as leaking cyst materials containing live protoscoleces to adjacent tissues and the formation of secondary hydatid cysts following surgery (Haji Mohammadi et al., 2018). Different protoscolicidal agents have been used during surgery for preventing relapse and the formation of secondary cysts. Protoscolicides used for the elimination of protoscoleces include formalin, povidone-iodine, cetrimide, hypertonic saline, ethyl alcohol, H2O2 and silver nitrate. Unfortunately the effectiveness of these agents has been curbed by several factors. Current protoscolicidal agents cause major side effects such as sclerosing colangitis and even death in CE patients undergoing surgery (Moazeni et al., 2017). Therefore, it is necessary to find novel protoscolicidal agents with more efficiency and less side effects.

Compared to chemical agents, natural products are widely available, have fewer side effects than chemical agents and are more likely to be accepted by the people. Medicinal plants have been considered as useful sources of new therapeutic compounds. Studies have reported protoscolicidal effects of numerous medicinal plants and/or their derivatives that can be used in the treatment of CE. Punica granatum peel (Labsi et al., 2016, 2019), Garlic, Allium sativum (Haji Mohammadi et al., 2018), Zataria multiflora, Thymus vulgaris (Moazeni et al., 2014), Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea (Razi Jalali et al., 2015), Pumpkin, Cucurbita maxima (Babaei et al., 2018), Corncockle, Nigella sativa (Al-Mayah et al., 2012), Ginger, Zingiber officinal (Baqer et al., 2014), and Barberry, Berberis vulgaris (Mahmoudvand et al., 2014) are among the most effective compounds.

Sumac (local name: Somagh), Rhus coriaria Linn., (family Anacardiaceae) grows within a wide geographical distribution from the Canary Islands over the Mediterranean to the Iranian plateau. Sumac is traditionally used as a medicinal plant for the treatment of diarrhea, wound healing and metabolic diseases by people living in many locations of Iranian plateau and Anatolia (Sezik et al., 2001) (Shabbir, 2012) (Ahangarpour et al., 2017). Sumac has been used as a traditional herbal medicine due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties as well as controlling blood parameters in type 2 diabetes (Alsamri et al., 2021) (Ahangarpour et al., 2017) reducing blood lipids (Rouhi-Boroujeni et al., 2016) and antibacterial effects on staphylococci (Mahdi Ahmadian-Attari et al., 2016). Our knowledge on the nature and extent of anti-parasitic effects of sumac is limited and more studies are required to investigate its protoscolicidal effects. In addition to our knowledge no in vivo studies have been performed on anti-echinococcal effects of sumac. Moreover the mechanisms by which sumac induce its biological effects are unknown and the molecular basis of anti-microbial function of this medicinal plant is unclear. Sumac has already been shown to decrease the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine genes, such as IL-1β in the articular joint (Momeni et al., 2019). This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of sumac extracts in a murine model of cystic echinococcosis. The study also investigated sumac effects on the expression of a profile of genes potentially active in hydatid cyst development.

留言 (0)

沒有登入
gif