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Vol.9 No.3-3: Effects of COVID-19 vaccine on experimentally infected mice with Schistosoma mansoni

By: Salwa Fouad Oshiba1*, Nancy Mahmoud Harba1, Manal Ahmed El Melegy1, Shaymaa Sabry El Gammal2, Asmaa Ramadan Hegazy1, Noha Ahmed Abokhalil1

1 Medical Parasitology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Egypt.

2 Pathology Department, National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Egypt

Abstract

Background: In developing countries, schistosomiasis is a serious illness. Schistosomiasis continues to reach new areas despite coordinated management strategies. Therefore, to increase vaccination effectiveness, additional antigens and adjuvants must be discovered. Additionally, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine that has already been developed must be used to combat other illnesses that are currently present. The ongoing study goal was to evaluate the COVID-19 vaccine’s impact on experimentally Schistosoma (S.) mansoni-infected mice.

Main body: Seventy-two mice were used in that research. The mice were placed into eight groups, each with eight mice, except for two chronic groups, each included twelve mice. Two intramuscular injections of the vaccine were administered at intervals of three weeks. Two weeks following the first dosage of the vaccine, S. mansoni infection was performed. To assess the impact of the COVID-19 vaccination on S. mansoni infection, tests were performed on worm load, hepatic and intestinal ova count, oogram pattern, hepatic granuloma number and diameter, and Masson’s trichrome for fibrosis. To evaluate toxicity and morbidity; urea, creatinine, and liver enzymes were performed. To measure the immunological effects; interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-17 serum concentrations were measured. For further analysis, immunohistochemical staining on liver sections for detection of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and alpha-smooth muscle (α-SM) was performed. Results revealed that the COVID-19 vaccination was linked to a considerable reduction in tissue egg load and worm burden along with an increase in the percentage of eggs that were dead. The number and diameter of the granulomas were significantly reduced. Additionally, a lower proportion of fibrosis was seen on Masson’s trichrome-stained sections. Decreased schistosomiasis-related morbidity and reduction in the H scores of TGF-β and α-SM in the tissues were also observed.

Conclusion: The COVID-19 vaccine reduces the worm burden, pathology, and morbidity of S. mansoni. These findings indicated that more research into the effects of various COVID-19 vaccines on schistosomes is necessary both alone and in conjunction with other Schistosoma vaccines.

Effects-of-COVID-19-vaccine-on-experimentally-infected-mice-with-Schistosoma-mansoni-1

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Vol.4 No.3 – 5 : microRNAs in the Diagnosis of Human Schistosomiasis (Editorial)

By : Ahmed Abdelhalim Yameny

Society of Pathological Biochemistry and Hematology, Egypt

Ahmed A. Yameny (Email: dr.ahmedyameny@yahoo.com)

Schistosomiasis and miRNAs

Schistosomiasis is a chronic disease , it comes after malaria in public health and socioeconomic importance among parasitic diseases(1), it is estimated that about 779 million people are at risk of infection and about 240 million are infected (WHO, 2014) (2), the infection depends on water contact activities with some risk factors so schistosomiasis control program in the infected areas should be done upon to educate the population on risk factors as age , gender, education residence and occupation (3), Schistosomiasis infection has been eliminated in Iran, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia with absence of new recorded cases in the past few years (WHO, 2007)(4). the overall prevalence S.haematobium and S.mansoni fell down to less than 0.2% in Egypt(5). Recently, diagnostic techniques have been developed for detection of schistosomiasis, ranging from basic microscopic detection to molecular approaches , Questionnare and chemical reagent strip for haematuria and proteinuria can considered for the diagnosis of S. haematobium in areas with high prevalence of infection(6,7), the sum of Nuclepore membraneas filteration technique and Centrifugation sedimentation technique results used as a gold standard to evaluate other techniques(8).

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) were discovered in 1993, These miRNAs account for only 1% of the human genome. miRNAs are highly conserved in nearly all organisms, about18-22 nucleotides long and play a crucial role in the regulation of gene expression(9,10), miRNAs are endogenous short single-stranded noncoding RNAs and they are post-transcriptional negative regulators of gene expression(11), the discovery of miRNAs open new hope for diagnosis and effective treatment of many chronic diseases(12). The presence of schistosome-specific miRNAs was first reported for the plasmas of S. japonicum-infected rabbits, by Cheng et al, they demonstrated elevations of several parasite-derived S. mansoni miRNAs, including sma-miR-277, sma-miR-3479-3p, and bantam, in a mouse model(13). He et al. investigated  the serum levels of host miRNAs in mice, rabbits, buffaloes, and humans infected with S. japonicum, and circulating miR-223 was suggested as a potential new biomarker for the detection of schistosome infection(14) , as in figure(1),these advances in determining schistosome-specific and host miRNA profiles provide some insight as to their future as early diagnostic markers of infection, in the evaluation of disease progression, and in determining therapeutic responses. However, they need to be applied in clinical settings, but the costs of the required reagents and resources required may limit their wide-scale applications(15).


microRNAs in the Diagnosis of Human Schistosomiasis (Editorial)-converted (1)

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Vol.3 No.2 – 3: The evolving schistosomiasis agenda 2017-2020 in Egypt : Moving from control toward final elimination

By : Ahmed Abdelhalim Yameny

Society of pathological biochemistry and hematology, Egypt

Ahmed A. Yameny (dr.ahmedyameny@yahoo.com)

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is one of the most important diseases of humans in tropical and subtropical parts of the world, it is a  chronic disease, it comes after malaria in socioeconomic and public health importance among parasitic diseases. It is estimated that about 779 million people are at risk of infection, about   240 million are infected, of whom  120 million are symptomatic and 20  million have serious consequences (WHO, 2014). This infection has been recorded in Egypt from early pharaonic times (3200 B.C.) by the demonstration of Schistosome eggs and circulating Schistosome antigens in mummies. After the discovery of the parasite’s life cycle in1915, Egypt started to fight against the disease by implementing pilot projects using either snail control or chemotherapy. In Egypt, between 1989 and 1996, about 2.5 million schistosomiasis cases were diagnosed and treated, mentioning that the prevalence of schistosomiasis was close to 40% in 1983 at the national level.   The Ministry of Health and Population in Egypt has announced the start of a campaign to confirm the final elimination of schistosomiasis by 2020 after the ministry has achieved success in reducing the prevalence of schistosomiasis to about 0.2% by the end of 2016.


The-evolving-schistosomiasis-agenda-2017-2020-in-Egypt-Final-Edition-converted

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