A boswellic acid-containing extract attenuates hepatic granuloma in C57BL/6 mice infected with Schistosoma japonicum.

Abstract

Granuloma formation has been shown to be induced and elicited by schistosome egg antigens, and it finally develops into fibrosis in intestine and the liver. Hepatic fibrosis is the main cause of increased morbidity and mortality in humans infected with schistosomes. Boswellic acid (BA)-containing extracts such as extracts of the oleogum resin from Boswellia serrata (BSE) have anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activity. However, little is known about the role of such extracts in schistosome egg-induced granulomatous inflammation. In order to investigate the effect of a watersoluble cyclodextrin complex preparation of BSE (BSE-CD) on Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) egg-induced liver granuloma, mice infected with S. japonicum cercariae were injected with BSE-CD during egg granuloma formation. The data showed that BSE-CD significantly reduced the size of liver granuloma and levels of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST); however, BSE-CD treatment had no effect on worm load and egg burden. The data also showed that BSE-CD significantly decreased the expression of leukotriene B(4) (LTB(4)) and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)), as well as the expression of matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP-9) in liver both on the mRNA and protein level. Thus, BSE-CD can significantly attenuate S. japonicum egg-induced hepatic granuloma, which may be partly dependent on the downregulation of some biochemical mediators.

• Authors: Miao Liu, Peng Chen, Berthold Büchele, Shengjian Dong, Dake Huang, Cuiping Ren, Yuxia Zhang, Xin Hou, Thomas Simmet, Jijia Shen
• Journal: Parasitology research (Parasitol Res) Vol. 112 Issue 3 Pg. 1105-11 (Mar 2013) ISSN: 1432-1955 [Electronic] Germany
• PMID: 23271565 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Anti-Inflammatory Agents
• Plant Extracts
• Triterpenes
• boswellic acid
• Alanine Transaminase

Topics

• Alanine Transaminase (blood)
• Animals
• Anti-Inflammatory Agents (administration & dosage, isolation & purification)
• Boswellia (chemistry)
• Disease Models, Animal
• Female
• Humans
• Liver Cirrhosis (drug therapy, parasitology, pathology)
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Parasite Egg Count
• Parasite Load
• Plant Extracts (administration & dosage, isolation & purification)
• Schistosoma japonicum (drug effects)
• Schistosomiasis japonica (drug therapy, parasitology, pathology)
• Treatment Outcome
• Triterpenes (administration & dosage, isolation & purification)