The aim of this investigation is to study some freshwater snails as bioindicator for heavy metals Cd, Cu and Pb by determining the concentration of these metals in the field water samples and in whole snail tissues. Seven freshwater snails were used in the present study, some of which are considered medically important snails in Egypt, Biomphalaria alexandrina and Bulinus truncatus, the intermediate hosts for schistosomiasis and nontarget snails Bellamya unicolor, Cleopatra bulimoides, Helisoma duryi, Physa acuta and Theodoxus niloticus. Samples of snails were gathered from three Egyptian governorates: Damietta, Giza and Monufia.. The snails were arranged according to their accumulated concentration of the above-mentioned microelements in descending order as follows: C. bulimoides > H. duryi > B. truncatus > B. alexandrina >P. acuta > B. unicolor > T. niloticus. It is concluded from the analysis of water and the investigated snails that these snails can accumulate Cu, Pb and Cd with high concentrations in their bodies, so they can be used as bioindicators for heavy metals. RésuméLe but de cette recherche est d'étudier certains escargots d'eau douce en tant que bioindicateurs de métaux lourds tels que Cd, Cu et Pb en déterminant la concentration de ces métaux dans des échantillons d'eau prélevés sur le terrain et dans tous les tissus des mollusques. Nous avons utilisé sept escargots d'eau douce dans cette étude, dons certains sont considérés comme importants pour la médecine égyptienne, Biomphalaria alexandrina et Bulinus truncatus, les hôtes intermédiaires pour la schistosomiase, et des escargots non visés Bellamya unicolor, Cleopatra bulimoides, Helisoma duryi, Physa acuta et Theodoxus niloticus. Des échantillons d'escargots furent prélevés dans trois gouvernorats: Damietta, Giza et Monufia. Il ressort clairement des analyses de l'eau et des escargots sur le terrain que ces derniers peuvent accumuler du Cu> Pb> Cd dans leur corps et peuvent donc servir de bioindicateurs de métaux lourds. Les escargots furent classés en ordre décroissant selon la concentration de l'accumulation de ces microéléments: C. bulimoides > H. duryi > B. truncatus > B. alexandrina > P. acuta > B. unicolor > T. niloticus. On en conclut que ces escargots peuvent accumuler du Cu, du Pb et du Cd à de fortes concentrations et qu'ils peuvent donc servir de bioindicateurs de métaux lourds.
Background: The internal defense system of snails consists of both cellular and humoral components. Circulating haemocytes are the principle line of cellular defense. The susceptibility of fresh water snails of genus Biomphalaria to infection by Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) is linked to the haemocytes present in the haemolymph. While the humoral component includes lysosomal enzymes, that helps in recognition of pathogens and parasites. Material and Methods: In the present work, Biomphalaria alexandrina (B. alexandrina), snails were exposed individually to S. mansoni infection; according to their response they were classified into susceptible group (shed cercariae) and resistant group (failed to shed cercariae). Snails not exposed to infection were considered as control group. Flow cytometric analysis was carried out for detecting apoptosis of B. alexandrina haemocytes isolated from pooled haemolymph and tissue. Results: This study is used to discriminate and count the percentage of viable, apoptotic, necrotic, and dead cells in haemolymph of all studied groups. Comparing to control group, we observed that viable cells were the most common cells that significantly decreased in both infected and non-infected groups (P<0.001, P<0.01 respectively), and showed significant decrease in infected in comparison with non-infected group (P<0.01). The haemolymph in infected group showed that dead cells were the most common cells (more than the viable, apoptotic and necrotic cells). At the same time, the apoptotic cells showed decrease in the condensation and de-condensation of DNA. This means failure to restore DNA. Conclusions: There was a significant variation in the number of the cells between susceptible and resistant snails. In susceptible snails the defense process failed, this was confirmed with increase of the dead cells in the infected haemolymph. While in resistant snails the viable spreading cells described as immunological active, are predominantly found in the haemolymph and tissue.
Hepatic schistosomiasis is the most well-known chronic condition, with a variety of clinical symptoms. In the current study, the metabolite profile of the Ailanthus excelsa leaf butanol extract was investigated using chromatographic isolation and Liquid chromatography electrospray ionization /mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) analysis. Also, its schistosomicidal effect was examined in vivo regarding disease progression in a comparative experimental study to praziquantel (PZQ). The parasitological parameters (total worm burden, tissue egg load, and oogram pattern) of the infected and the treated mice were counted. A histopathological examination of the liver granuloma took place as well. The extract (at a dose of 500 mg/kg) caused a significant worm reduction of 41.30% and also a significant reduction in intestinal egg load (6.36 ± 1.12 vs. 17.82 ± 2,024.6). Data also showed a reduction in immature eggs in the extract group (33.00 ± 2.45 vs. 57.4 ± 3.89) when compared to the infected untreated group. Five phenolic compounds were isolated and identified as gallic acid (1), methyl gallate (2), quercitrin (3), isoquercitrin (4), and kaempferin (5). Furthermore, molecular docking was utilized for the first time to evaluate the efficacy of the isolated compounds (1-5) in disrupting the essential worm enzyme thioredoxin glutathione reductase. Compounds 3-5 showed high docking scores ranging from −7.054 to −11.370 kcal/mol that were comparable to that of PZQ (−6.407 kcal/mol). Moreover, LC-ESI-MS/MS profiling led to the identification of 33 secondary metabolites. These compounds were classified as phenolic acids, flavonoids, iridoids, stilbenoids, chalcones, tannins, and coumarins. The findings suggest that the A. excelsa leaf extract could be used as a naturally occurring antischistosomal agent and this emphasizes the significance of phenolic components.
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