Molluscicidal and parasiticidal activities of Eryngium triquetrum essential oil on Schistosoma mansoni and its intermediate snail host Biomphalaria glabrata, a double impact

Abstract

Background Freshwater snails are the intermediate hosts of a large variety of trematode flukes such as Schistosoma mansoni responsible for one of the most important parasitic diseases caused by helminths, affecting 67 million people worldwide. Recently, the WHO Global Vector Control Response 2017–2030 (GVCR) programme reinforced its message for safer molluscicides as part of required strategies to strengthen vector control worldwide. Here, we present the essential oil from Eryngium triquetrum as a powerful product with molluscicide and parasiticide effect against S. mansoni and the snail intermediate host Biomphalaria glabrata. Methods In the present study, we describe using several experimental approaches, the chemical composition of E. triquetrum essential oil extract and its biological effects against the snail B. glabrata and its parasite S. mansoni. Vector and the free-swimming larval stages of the parasite were exposed to different oil concentrations to determine the lethal concentration required to produce a mortality of 50% (LC50) and 90% (LC90). In addition, toxic activity of this essential oil was analyzed against embryos of B. glabrata snails by monitoring egg hatching and snail development. Also, short-time exposure to sublethal molluscicide concentrations on S. mansoni miracidia was performed to test a potential effect on parasite infectivity on snails. Mortality of miracidia and cercariae of S. mansoni is complete for 5, 1 and 0.5 ppm of oil extract after 1 and 4 h exposure. Results The major chemical component found in E. triquetrum oil determined by GC-FID and GC/MS analyses is an aliphatic polyacetylene molecule, the falcarinol with 86.9–93.1% of the total composition. The LC50 and LC90 values for uninfected snails were 0.61 and 1.02 ppm respectively for 24 h exposure. At 0.5 ppm, the essential oil was two times more toxic to parasitized snails with a mortality rate of 88.8 ± 4.8%. Moderate embryonic lethal effects were observed at the concentration of 1 ppm. Severe surface damage in miracidia was observed with a general loss of cilia that probably cause their immobility. Miracidia exposed 30 min to low concentration of plant extract (0.1 ppm) were less infective with 3.3% of prevalence compare to untreated with a prevalence of 44%. Conclusions Essential oil extracted from E. triquetrum and falcarinol must be considered as a promising product for the development of new interventions for schistosomiasis control and could proceed to be tested on Phase II according to the WHO requirements.

Myco-Synthesized Molluscicidal and Larvicidal Selenium Nanoparticles: A New Strategy to Control Biomphalaria alexandrina Snails and Larvae of Schistosoma mansoni with an In Silico Study on Induced Oxidative Stress

“…Unlike the present study, Osman et al [ 65 ] showed that the fungal extract of Aspergillus fumigatus caused a higher mortality rate of miracidia than that of cercariae after exposure to the same experimental period. The mortality rates of both larval stages appear to differ depending on their biological nature and their internal structure [ 69 ].…”

Essential Oils from Two Apiaceae Species as Potential Agents in Organic Crops Protection

“…Our results provide evidence that: (i) the ecotoxicological effect may vary between the target organisms; and (ii) the ecotoxicological action of the two plants studied goes beyond the action of their major component [8,31]. Together, these results are very interesting, especially with falcarinol and the oil of E. triquetrum, which can be used to support control strategies of parasitic diseases related to limnic environments.…”

“…Some of them have traditionally been used for the treatment of various anti-inflammatory disorders and antinociceptive activity [6]. Secondary metabolites isolated from plants belonging to this genus have displayed important biological activities, including antitumor, antibacterial, molluscicide, parasiticide, antimicrobial, antifungal, cytotoxic and phototoxic [6][7][8][9][10]. Many studies deal with phytochemical constituents of the Eryngium genus, reporting terpenoids, polyacetylenes, triterpenoid, saponins, steroids and phenolics [6,7,11].…”

Molluscicidal and Cercaricidal Effects of Myrciaria floribunda Essential Oil Nanoemulsion

“…This phenomenon probably occurred because the juvenile organism was not fully developed and was more susceptible to the effects of the nanoemulsion and essential oil components [15]. Several studies for the control of mollusks, especially B. glabrata and the parasite S. mansoni, have been conducted with products derived from plant origin, generating important information and showing the potential of plants as a source of bioactive metabolites to support the combat of schistosomiasis [5,7,29,[39][40][41][42][43]. However, few studies have approached the formulation of these novel natural products for the functional control of aquatic mollusks since the common limitation in these studies is the physicochemical properties of substances, which are often volatile or insoluble in aqueous media and generally require the use of organic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to enable biological testing [29].…”