Abstract

Objective: To elucidate the efficacy of mefloquine and methanol extract of the plants Chenopodium ambrosioides (C. ambrosioides) and Sesbania sesban (S. sesban) as a combined therapy for the treatment of Schistosoma mansoni (S. mansoni) infected mice, and study the parasitological, biochemical and histological parameters of treated mice. Methods: Two groups of male Swiss Albino mice were infected with S. mansoni cercariae. The first group untreated served as control. The second group was orally treated with a single dose (200 mg/kg) of mefloquine 3 weeks post infection, then subsequently divided into 2 subgroups; the first orally retreated with the plant extracts 1 000 mg/kg of S. sesban followed by 1 250 mg/kg of C. ambrosioides with an 1 h interval, for 2 successive days. The second sub-group was re-treated with the same (dose and method) plant extracts after 7 weeks post infection. Results: The results showed that S. mansoni infected mice treated with mefloquine and the plants’ extracts 3 weeks post infection significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the worm burden/ mouse by 95.5% and the few worms recovered from sacrificed mice in this treatment failed to lay ova. Moreover, no worms were recovered from infected mice treated with mefloquine (3 weeks post infection) and re-treated by the plant’s extracts at 7 weeks post infection. Also, treatment of infected mice with mefloquine followed by the plants’ extracts either at 3 or 7 weeks post infection ameliorated the activities of the serum enzymes alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkline phosphatase and acid phosphatase as well as the hepatic granulomatous lesions compared to infected untreated group. Conclusions: It is concluded that successive treatment of S. mansoni infected mice with mefloquine and methanol extract of the plants C. ambrosioides and S. sesban could be a promising device in the strategy of schistosomiasis control.

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