Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T10:06:17.794Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Effects of cyclosporin A on the morphology and tegumentary ultrastructure of Hymenolepis microstoma in vivo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

J. M. Wastling
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB9 2TN, Scotland
K. Mackenzie
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB9 2TN, Scotland
L. H. Chappell
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB9 2TN, Scotland

Extract

Cyclosporin A (CsA) induced significant changes in parasite morphology when administered to mice infected with Hymenolepis microstoma. Gross morphological damage consisted of proglottis swelling and the formation of protuberances from the worm surface, visible with a low-power dissecting microscope, occurring most frequently in the posterior third of the strobila. Gross morphology and ultrastructure were examined further using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Swollen proglottides exhibited areas covered in small pits and fissures (diameter approximately 1–2 μm) but it was not possible to establish the significance of this damage. The brush-border and distal cytoplasm appeared largely intact although some evidence of swelling of the basal membrane invaginations and possible fluid accumulation was seen in drug-treated TEM sections. The apparent oedematous condition of many of the proglottides from drug-treated mice may indicate that CsA treatment mediates permeability changes in the worm surface membrane but the mechanisms by which this may occur remain to be elucidated. The effects of CsA on the morphology of H. microstoma correlate with the previously described anthelmintic activity of the drug against this parasite where CsA treatment dramatically reduces worm growth, retards migration into the bile duct and limits parasite survival.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Becker, B., Mehlhorn, H., Andrews, P. & Thomas, H. (1980). Scanning and transmission electron microscope studies on the efficacy of praziquantel on Hymenolepis nana (Cestoda)in vitro. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 61, 121–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Becker, B., Mehlhorn, H., Andrews, P. & Thomas, H. (1981). Ultrastructural investigations on the effect of praziquantel on five species of cestodes. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 64, 257–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belosevic, M., Faubert, G. M. & Maclean, J. D. (1986). The effects of cyclosporin A on the course of infection with Giardia muris in mice. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 35, 496500.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bolas-Fernandez, F., Grencis, R. K. & Wakelin, D. (1988). Cyclosporin A and Trichinella spiralis: anthelmintic effects in immunosuppressed mice. Parasite Immunology 10, 111–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bout, D., Haque, A. & Capron, A. (1984). Filaricidal effects of cyclosporin A against Dipetalonema viteae in Mastomys natalensis. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 78, 670–1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bueding, E., Hawkins, J. & Cha, Y. N. (1981). Antischistosomal effects of cyclosporin A. Agents and Actions 11, 380–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chappell, L. H. (1988). The interactions between drugs and the parasite surface. Parasitology 96 (Suppl.) S167–S193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chappell, L. H. & Thomson, A. W. (1988). Studies on the action of Cyclosporin A against Schistosoma mansoni and other parasitic infections. Transplantation Proceedings 20, 291–7.Google ScholarPubMed
Chappell, L. H., Wastling, J. M. & Hurd, H. (1989). Action of cyclosporin A on the tapeworms Hymenolepis microstoma, H. diminuta andMesocestoides corti in vivo. Parasitology 98, 291–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hughes, W. T. & Smith, B. (1982). Provocation of infection due to Pneumocystis carinii by cyclosporin A. Journal of Infectious Diseases 145, 767.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kay, J. E. (1989). Inhibitory effects of cyclosporin A on lymphocyte activation. In Cyclosporin, Mode of Action and Clinical Applications (ed. Thomson, A. W.), pp. 123. Lancaster (UK): Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Kierszenbaum, F., Gottlieb, C. A., Budzko, D. B. (1983). Exacerbation of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mice treated with the immunoregulatory agent cyclosporin A. Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie 34, 46.Google ScholarPubMed
Kirkland, T. N. & Fierer, J. (1983). Cyclosporin A inhibits Coccidoides immitis in vitro andin vivo. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 24, 921–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mccabe, R. E., Remmington, J. S. & Araujo, F. G. (1985). In vivo and in vitro effects of Cyclosporin A onTrypanosoma cruzi. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 34, 861–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Motta, I. & Truffa-Bachi, P. (1989). Influence of CsA on humoral immunity and on B lymphocyte activation. In Cyclosporin, Mode of Action and Clinical Applications (ed. Thomson, A. W.), pp. 3449. Lancaster (UK): Kluwer Academic Publishers.Google Scholar
Munro, G. H. & Mclaren, D. J. (1990). Schistosoma mansoni: morphology and ultrastructure of adult worms recovered from cyclosporin-A treated mice. Parasitology 100, 1928.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Munro, G. H., Brannan, L. R., Chappell, L. H., Thomson, A. W. & Mclaren, D. J. (1991). The larvicidal activity of cyclosporin A against Schsistosoma mansoni in mice. Parasitology 102, 5763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pritchard, R. K., Bachmann, R., Hutchinson, G. W. & Kohler, P. (1982). The effect of praziquantel on calcium inHymenolepis diminuta. Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology 5, 297308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rogan, M. T. & Richards, K. S. (1986). Echinococcus granulosus: in vitro effect of monensin on the tegument of the protoscolex. Parasitology 93, 347–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skuce, P. J. & Fairweather, I. (1989). Fasciola hepatica: the effect of the sodium ionophore monensin on the adult tegument. Parasitology Research 75, 223–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thommen-Scott, K. (1981). Antimalarial activity of cyclosporin A. Agents and Actions 11, 770–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wastling, J. M., Gerrard, D., Walker, J. & Chappell, L. H. (1990). Action of cyclosporin A on the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta in mice. Parasitology 101, 465–72.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed