Artemether (ART), the methylated derivative of artemisinin, is an efficacious antimalarial drug that also displays antischistosomal properties. This study was designed to evaluate the immunomodulatory action of a single intramuscular dose (50 mg/kg body weight) of ART in comparison with PZQ treatment (42 days PI). ART administration was 7, 14, 21 and 45 days PI. ART effect was studied parasitologically, histopathologically and immunologically. It was found that maximum effect was reached when ART treatment interfered with 14 or 21 days old schistosomula. ART treatment 14 or 21 days PI was associated with shift from Th2 to Th1 predominancy (decrease in IL-4 and upgrading of serum IFN-γ levels). In conclusion, ART is a promising drug in control of schistosomiasis mansoni due to its reductive effect on worm burden and its role in improvement of hepatic granulomatous lesions.
Background:Many immunological techniques have been developed over years using the different Fasciola antigens for diagnosis of parasitic infection and to replace the parasitological techniques, which are time consuming and usually lack sensitivity and reproducibility.Materials and Methods:In this study, Fasciola gigantica paramyosin (Pmy) antigen was early detected in cattle sera using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), to evaluate the Pmy antigen performance in diagnosis. This work was conducted on 135 cattle blood samples, which were classified according to parasitological investigation into, healthy control (30), fascioliasis (75), and other parasites (30) groups.Results:The sensitivity of Sandwich ELISA was 97.33%, and the specificity was 95%, in comparison with parasitological examination, which recorded 66.66% sensitivity and 100% specificity, respectively.Conclusions:It was clear that the native F. gigantica Pmy is considered as a powerful antigen in early immunodiagnosis of fascioliasis, using a highly sensitive and specific sandwich ELISA technique.
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