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LACK OF EVIDENCE FOR AN ANTISCHISTOSOMAL ACTIVITY OF MYRRH IN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS

In a multicenter investigation of the potential antischistosomal activity of myrrh, a resin obtained from an African plant, different derivatives of the resin, including the commercial preparation Mirazid, were tested at different doses in mice and hamsters infected with Schistosoma mansoni. In mice infected with the Egyptian (CD) strain of S. mansoni, four of six groups treated with Mirazid did not show significant worm reduction, while the remaining groups showed significant but trivial reductions. In mice infected with the Puerto Rican (Mill Hill) strain of S. mansoni, a Mirazid solution was toxic for mice at high doses and produced modest or no worm reduction at lower doses. In hamsters and mice infected with Puerto Rican (NMRI) and Brazilian (LE) strains of S. mansoni and treated with the crude extract of myrrh in doses ranging from 180 to 10,000 mg/kg, no signs of antibilharzial activity were observed. Total tissue egg load and egg developmental stages were not affected by any of the treatment regimens. These results were in contrast to those obtained in praziquantel-treated animals in which 94% worm reduction and 100% egg reduction was observed. Based on the findings of this work, we cannot recommend the use of Mirazid in human cases of schistosomiasis.

Received December 22, 2003. Accepted for publication February 10, 2004.

Financial support: The work conducted in Egypt and Italy was supported by the INCO-II Program of the European Commission (contract ICA4-CT-2001–10079).

Authors’ addresses: Sanaa Botros, Samia William, and Fatma Ebeid, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Warrak El-Hadar, Imbaba, PO Box 30, Giza 12411, Egypt. Donato Cioli, Institute of Cell Biology, 32 Via Ramarini, 00016 Monterotondo, Roma, Italy. Naftale Katz, Centro de Pesquisas Rene Rachou, CP 1743, Fiocruz, Belo Horizonte, 30190-002, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Tim A. Day and James L. Bennett, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823.

Reprint requests: Sanaa Botros, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Warrak El-Hadar, Imbaba, PO Box 30, Giza 12411, Egypt, E-mail: sanaabotros{at}link.net.

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