In Vitro Study on the Protoscolicidal Effect of Synthesized Novel Azole Derivatives on Protoscoleces of Cystic Echinococcosis

Abstract

Objective: Echinococcosis is a zoonotic parasitic infection caused by Echinococcus granulosus sesu lato (E. granulosus s.l.) with world-wide distribution. In human, E.granulosus is found in the larval form, while the adult form is usually found in dogs. Surgery is still the treatment of choice for treatment of CE. However, chemotherapy using drugs like Albendazole, Mebendozole and Flubendazole has been used for a long time. There is still no agreement on their usage because of their high adverse effects, long-term therapy and low response. Using the new and novel drugs on protoscoleces is always interesting. Materials and Methods: We applied in vitro protoscolicidal effect of a group of azole derivatives on protoscoleces of CE cyst. Sheep hepatic cysts were collected from Shiraz abattoir and transferred to the parasitology department at Shiraz medical school, where protoscoleces were separated aseptically for protoscolicidal studies. The protoscoleces were incubated against 7 new synthesized azole derivatives using LC50 of the compounds. Results: Our results showed that ligand no.5 with a concentration of 50 µgr/ml and 10 µgr/ml, and the ligand no.3 in concentration of 50µgr/ml had the most protoscolicidal effects. The lowest protoscolicidal effect was observed for ligand no.7 with 44.30±22.1 and 53.46±28.63 percent destroying effect, respectively. Conclusions: Regarding the high protoscolecidal effect of the ligands no. 3 and 5, these compounds have in vitro protoscolicidal effects. Further ex vivo and, in vivo investigations on these compounds is suggested.