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The effect of praziquantel treatment on glutathione concentration in Schistosoma mansoni

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1998

F. RIBEIRO
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IBLS, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ
P. M. Z. COELHO
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IBLS, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ Present address: Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
L. Q. VIEIRA
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IBLS, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ Present address: Departamento de Bioquimica e Imunologia, Institutio de Ciencias Biologicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
D. G. WATSON
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IBLS, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ Present address: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.
J. R. KUSEL
Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, IBLS, Glasgow University, Glasgow G12 8QQ

Abstract

A fluorescent dye monochlorobimane (MCB) that binds glutathione (GSH) was used as a tool for measuring the concentration of GSH in skin and mechanically-transformed schistosomula. The specificity of MCB binding to GSH was confirmed by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The MCB binding to GSH is an energy-dependent process since no labelling could be seen at low temperature. When 24-h-old schistosomula were depleted of GSH by buthionine sulfoximine (a specific inhibitor of GSH synthesis) for 18 h, a significant decrease (P<0·001) in fluorescence was observed. PZQ treatment of the schistosomula after first labelling the parasites with MCB did not greatly affect MCB binding to GSH. However, when the 24-h-old schistosomula were first PZQ treated and afterwards labelled with MCB, the pattern of labelling was identical to that of those of the non-labelled parasites. When 24-h-old schistosomula were first PZQ treated, washed and labelled in the presence of 1 mM GSH, the level of fluorescence was recovered. These results suggest that PZQ depletes GSH from schistosomula, and may render them susceptible to the host's immune system.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
1998 Cambridge University Press

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