Destruction of secondary Schistosoma mansoni sporocysts in Biomphalaria glabrata after phytochemical exposure

Abstract Background: Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease and affects over 200 million people worldwide. The snail Biomphalaria glabrata is one of the intermediate hosts of S. mansoni . The aim of this work was to verify the action of Euphorbia milii var. hislopii latex in the hemocytes profile and histopathology of B. glabrata infected by S. mansoni . Methods: Uninfected and infected snails were exposed to sublethal concentrations of E. milii latex for 24 hours (1.0 mg/l less than the LC 50 ) and after this time were analysed. Results: The survival rate was 88.5% for the uninfected snails and 66.6% for the infected and exposed snails. In the snails infected by S. mansoni , the exposure to E. milii latex promoted proliferation of hemocytes in the tentacles, mantle, digestive gland, kidney and ovotestis. In the digestive gland and the kidney, granulomatous reactions occurred around the sporocysts and caused their destruction. Proliferation of hemocytes in the kidney and digestive gland and edema in the mantle area were also observed in the uninfected and exposed snails. The number of circulating hemocytes from the group infected and exposed to E. milii latex was significantly higher than in the other groups. Three types of hemocytes were found: hyalinocytes, granulocytes and blast-like cells, and in all the groups the proportion of hyalinocytes was higher than the other types. There was no significant difference among the cell types and the different groups analyzed. Conclusions: We conclude that the sublethal concentration of E. milii latex influenced the cellular immune response of the susceptible B. glabrata strain to infection by S. mansoni , promoting the destruction of parasites.