A Novel Treatment of Schistosomiasis: Nano-Calcium Silicate Incorporating 5% Copper Oxide

1 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City 11884, Cairo, Egypt.
2 Refractories, Ceramics and Building Materials Department, National Research Centre, El-Buhouth St., Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt.
3 Imam Mohamed Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Collage of Science, Chemistry Dept. Riyadh 11623, Saudi Arabia.
4 Glass Research Department, National Research Centre, El-Buhouth St., Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt.
*Corresponding Author: *Corresponding Author: Esmat Mahmoud Aly Hamzawy, Email: , Email: ehamzawy9@gmail.com
Abstract
Purpose: Praziquantel (PZQ) is a well-known drug accredited by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the treatment of schistosomiasis. It shows poor efficiency in patients during the earliest infection phases. Therefore, the search for new alternative drugs was the intention of many researchers.
Methods: In the current study, the effect of different concentrations (ranging from 0.07-10 μg∕mL) of calcium silicate (CS) containing 5% copper oxide [CS-5%CuO] on golden hamster infected by Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium (Egyptian strains) was evaluated in both in vitro and in vivo. To the best of our knowledge, this is a novel study in investigating the efficiency of CS-5%CuO against both strains of schistosomes. The worms of S. mansoni and S. haematobium were tested in RPMI-1640 medium in vitro.
Results: The results declare that CS-5% CuO exhibited excellent anti-schistosomal activities on both in vitro and in vivo experiments for both Egyptians Schistosoma strains. The most potential effect of the CS-5% CuO was exhibited after 6 h by 10 μg∕mL with significant activity of (P value = 0.001).
Conclusion: Therefore, CS-5%CuO may become an innovative treatment for the schistosomiasis.