Schistosomiasis control in endemic areas depends on several factors, including mass drug delivery programs and interrupting the transmission of disease by controlling the intermediate snail hosts in freshwater ecosystem using...
Schistosomiasis is a neglected parasitosis caused by Schistosoma spp. Praziquantel is used for the chemoprophylaxis and treatment of this disease. Although this monotherapy is effective, the risk of resistance and its low efficiency against immature worms compromises its effectiveness. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new schistosomicide drugs. However, the development of new drugs is a long and expensive process. The repositioning of approved drugs has been proposed as a quick, cheap, and effective alternative to solve this problem. This study employs chemogenomic analysis with use of bioinformatics tools to search, identify, and analyze data on approved drugs with the potential to inhibit Schistosoma mansoni energy metabolism enzymes. The TDR Targets Database, Gene DB, Protein, DrugBank, Therapeutic Targets Database (TTD), Promiscuous, and PubMed databases were used. Fifty-nine target proteins were identified, of which 18 had one or more approved drugs. The results identified 20 potential drugs for schistosomiasis treatment; all approved for use in humans.
Plant-derived molluscicides have been indicated as biodegradable and lowcost strategies for control of Biomphalaria spp., intermediate host for the Schistosoma. This study evaluated whether the crude ethanolic extract of the Persea americana stem bark has molluscicidal activity against embryos, newly-hatched and adults of Biomphalaria glabrata. The extract was obtained, characterized and its toxicity analyzed by snail embryotoxicity test (144 h) and acute toxicity test with newly-hatching and adult snails (96 h). Results showed the presence of fl avonoids, anthraquinone heterosides, coumarins and tannins in the crude ethanolic extract, which showed molluscicidal activity against all life cycle stages of B. glabrata. The LC 50 for embryos, newly-hatched and adults were 27.06, 30.60 and 55.55 ppm, respectively. Embryos exposed to the extract at 50 ppm showed hatching inhibition and at 6.2 and 25 ppm had the highest rates of morphological alterations, such as shell malformations and coagulation of the perivitelline substance. Adult snails exposed to the extract at 75 ppm showed a peak of behavioral changes, such as lethargy and shell reclusion, in addition to answers like hemolymph release in most concentrations. Further studies are required, prioritizing toxicity testing on non-target organisms and further elucidation of the active molecules.
This study was developed to evaluate the prevalence of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) producing Klebsiella pneumoniae in two hospitals (A and B) in Goiânia, GO, Brazil. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates was determined using the MicroScan WalkAway (Dade Behring, USA). Tests to evaluate the genetic correlation between the isolates were also performed. For the ESBL phenotypic test, the Double-disk diffusion (DD) method was used. The strains isolated in Hospital B were submitted to DNA analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). The study showed high prevalence of ESBL-producing K. pneumoniae (25% in hospital A and 66.7% in hospital B), with high rates of antimicrobial resistance. The most active compound was imipenem (100% susceptibility in vitro). The PFGE test showed similiarity in five strains and variability in six strains.The high prevalence of ESBL-producing Klebsiella may be due to individual selection and to dissemination of a common strain.
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