The in vivo trypanocidal effect of the diterpene 5-epi-icetexone.

LOZANO E; STRAUSS M; RIVAROLA W; MATÍAS NIETO; TONN C; VEGA I; SOSA MA

Mendoza

Congreso; XLVIII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad Argentina de Investigación Bioquímica (SAIB).; 2012

T. cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas´ disease. When cultured, this parasite is found mainly as epimastigote and, at lesser extent, as trypomastigote. Recently, we have found that 5-epi-icetexone (ICTX), obtained from a native plant, affects the growth of epimastigotes and amastigotes. In this study, we evaluated the effect of this compound on parasitic forms in Albino Swiss infected. The distribution of parasites in the tissues and parasitaemia were evaluated at different times after the infection. Parasitemia was measured by counting of parasites in blood. Thirty five days after infection, when parasitaemia declined, the animals were sacrificed and some organs were removed, fixed and processed for microscopy. Thin sections from each tissue were stained with hematoxylin?eosin and observed with light microscope. We found that parasitemia decreased when 0.3 mg of ICTX is administered. This effect was lower than that of Benznidazole, although ICTX was administered at lower doses and by a different via. We also observed some nests of parasites in the heart of either controls or treated with DMSO alone, while they were not observed in the mice treated with ICTX. In addition, inflammatory infiltrates caused by parasites were not observed in the heart of treated animals. We conclude that this compound is effective against T. cruzi even if they reside in a host.