Histopathological changes in juvenile Schistosoma haematobium harboured inhamsters treated with artemether

Histopathological changes in juvenile Schistosoma haematobium, caused by ar temether administered to the infected hamsters, were studied. Hamsters were infected with S. haematobium cercariae, and after 28 days, a single dose o f artemether (300 mg/kg) was administered intragastrically. After 24 h, 72 h and 7 days, groups of two hamsters were sacrificed, and livers were remov ed, fixed and processed routinely, and examined by light microscopy. After 24 h, 93% of the schistosomulae examined showed degeneration, which include d swelling of the tegument, adherence of inflammatory cells to the damaged tegument, collapsed and damaged intestine, and infiltration of inflammatory cells, predominantly lymphocytes. After 72 h, the intensity of damage incr eased, including severe swelling of the tegument, loss of definition in the internal structures, collapse of intestine accompanied by release of pigme nt particles to the parenchymal tissues, and emergence of dead schistosomul ae. Seven days after treatment, the number of dead schistosomulae increased , and most of them developed to an early- or late stage of dead worm granul oma. Meanwhile, 12% of the schistosomulae showed a normal appearance, which suggested that those schistosomulae that had survived the treatment were r ecovered to normal. The results demonstrated that artemether effectively ac ts against the juvenile stages of S. haematobium and confirms earlier resul ts with S. japonicum and S. mansoni. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rig hts reserved.