Abstract
Schistosomiasis continues to affect the health and quality of life of millions of people around the world. Schistosomiasis has been ranked the second disease after malaria in terms of importance as a targeted tropical disease. Praziquantel (PZQ) is the only drug approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the treatment of schistosomiasis. Being the only drug, parasite resistance to this drug has developed. Therefore, the search for new alternatives has been the goal of many researchers. In this study, the effects of aqueous extracts of Zingiber officinale, Piper nigrum, and Coriandrum sativum on Schistosoma mansoni infected golden hamsters (Egyptian strain) were evaluated in vitro and in vivo at different doses of 500, 250, 125, 62.5, and 31.25 mu g/ml. In vitro, adult worms of S. mansoni were tested in RPMI-1640 medium for 48 hrs. The results showed that the concentrations 500, 250, and 125 mu g/ml of Zingiber officinale and Piper nigrum caused dead of 100% of adult worms within 6 and 12 hrs of incubation, respectively. Although, aqueous extract of Coriandrum sativum at concentrations 500, 250, and 125 mu g/ml resulted dead of 100% parasites after 12 to 24 hrs of incubation. In conclusion, Zingiber officinale and Piper nigrum showed efficacy against schistosomiasis in both in vitro and biological experiments of Egyptian schistosome strain, while Coriandrum sativum gave less effective results than the previous ones. Therefore, Zingiber officinale and Piper nigrum may become an innovative treatment for schistosomiasis.