Efficacy of Myrtus communis L. to Inactivate the Hydatid Cyst Protoscoleces

PURPOSE: The present study aims to investigate the scolicidal effects of Myrtus communis L. essential oil against protoscoleces of hydatid cysts and also its toxicity in mice model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Protoscoleces were aseptically aspirated from sheep livers having hydatid cysts. Various concentrations of the essential oil (12.5-100 μl/ml) were used for 5-30 min. Viability of protoscoleces was confirmed using eosin exclusion test (0.1% eosin staining). Moreover, 48 male NMRI mice were used to determine the acute and sub-acute toxicity of M. communis essential oil. One-way ANOVA with Tukey's post-hoc test was used to assess differences between experimental groups. RESULTS: Findings of the present study demonstrated that the M. communis essential oil at the concentration of 100 μl/ml after 5 min of exposure killed 100% protoscoleces. Similarly, the mean mortality rate of protoscoleces after 10 min of exposure to concentration of 50 μl/ml was 100%. However, lower concentrations (12.5 and 25 μl/ml) of M. communis essential oil provoked a delayed protoscolicidal effects. The LD50 values of intraperitoneal injection of the M. communis essential oil was 2.23 mL/kg body wt. No significant difference (p > .05) was observed in the clinical chemistry and hematological parameters following oral administrations of M. communis essential oil at the doses 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 mL/kg for 14 days. CONCLUSION: The results showed potent scolicidal activity of M. communis with no significant toxicity, which might be used as a natural scolicidal agent in hydatid cyst surgery. KEYWORDS: cystic echinococcosis; hydatid cyst; myrtle; scolicidal effects; toxicit

The role of GlcNAc-PI-de-N-acetylase gene by gene knockout through homologous recombination and its consequences on survival, growth and infectivity of Leishmania major in in vitro and in vivo conditions

At present, there are no efficacious vaccines or effective drugs against leishmaniasis; therefore new and innovative control methods are urgently required. One way to achieve this important goal is through using reverse genetic engineering to evaluate important enzymes, proteins and macromolecules. One of the most important enzymes for Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) biosynthetic pathways is GlcNAc-PI-de-N-acetylase (GPI12). The molecular constructs were cloned in Escherichia coli strain Top 10 and confirmed by molecular methods and were transfected by electroporation into Leishmania major. We demonstrated that two alleles of the GPI12 gene in L. major were successfully removed and enabling the generation of a null mutant, which supports the idea that GPI12 is not an essential gene for the growth and survival of Leishmania and the homozygous knockouts of Leishmania are able to survive. We were able to produce a mutant parasite that caused no damaged to the host. Further investigations are essential to check the safety profile in laboratory animals