Background: Schistosomiasis is a major health problem in tropical and sub-tropical areas caused by species of trematode belonging to the genus Schistosoma . The treatment and control of this disease has been relying on the use of a single drug praziquantel. However, the drug resistance concern urged the development of new drugs against schistosoma. Here, we report our systematic biological evaluation of DW-3-15, a new lead compound developed based on our conjugation design rationale as an effective anti-schistosomal agent. Methodology/Principal Findings: The antischistosomal activity of DW-3-15 was systematically evaluated in S. japonicum infected mouse model for its stage-sensitivity and dose response. The results revealed that DW-3-15 exhibited 60-85% worm reduction rate against different development stage of worm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation indicated that DW-3-15 may damage to the tegument of male schistosomes. Conclusions/Significance: Our results demonstrated that DW-3-15 showed potent anti-schistosomal activities in vivo. The results strongly support our conjugation design strategy of artemisinin analogs and further development of DW-3-15 as a new lead compound as anti-schistosomal agent.
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CITATION STYLE
Dong, L., Duan, W., Chen, J., Sun, H., Qiao, C., & Xia, C. M. (2014). An artemisinin derivative of praziquantel as an orally active antischistosomal agent. PLoS ONE, 9(11). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0112163