Elucidating the influence of praziquantel nanosuspensions on the in vivo metabolism of Taenia crassiceps cysticerci

LUCIANA SILVA; FRAGA CAROLINA; SALOMON CLAUDIO; PEREIRA DAYANNE; HEMPHILL ANDREW; ARRÚA EVA; DA COSTA LUCIANA; VINAUD MARINA

ACTA TROPICA

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016

0001-706X

The aim of this work was to develop nanosuspensions of praziquantel (PZQ) and toevaluate their influence on the energetic metabolism of cysticerci inoculated in BALB/cmice. We analyzed metabolic alterations of glycolytic pathways and the tricarboxylicacid cycle in the parasite. The nanosuspensions were prepared by precipitation andpolyvinyl alcohol (PVA), poloxamer 188 (P188) and poloxamer 407 (P407) were usedas stabilizers. Nanosuspension prepared with PVA had a particle size of 100 nm, whileP188- and P407-based nanosuspensions had particle sizes of 74 nm and 285 nm,respectively. The zeta potential was -8.1, -8.6, and -13.2 for the formulations stabilizedwith PVA, P188 and P407, respectively. Treatments of T. crassiceps cysticerci-infectedmice resulted in an increase in glycolysis organic acids, and enhanced the partialreversion of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the urea cycle and the production of ketonicbodies in the parasites when compared to the groups treated with conventional PZQ.These data suggest that PZQ nanosuspensions greatly modified the energeticmetabolism of cysticerci in vivo. Moreover, the remarkable metabolic alterationsproduced by the stabilizers indicate that further studies on nanoformulations arerequired to find potentially suitable nanomedicines.