Modified Hederagenin Derivatives Demonstrate Ex Vivo Anthelmintic Activity against Fasciola hepatica

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  • Anand Chakroborty
    Aberystwyth University
  • Deiniol Pritchard
    Naturiol Bangor Ltd., MSParc
  • Marc Bouillon
  • Anna Cervi
    Naturiol Bangor Ltd., MSParc
  • Rolf Kraehenbuehl
  • Charlotte Wild
    Ridgeway Research Limited
  • Caroline Fenn
    Ridgeway Research Limited
  • Peter Holdsworth
    Ridgeway Research Limited
  • Colin Capner
    Ridgeway Research Limited
  • Gilda Padalino
    Aberystwyth University
  • Josephine E. Forde-Thomas
    Aberystwyth University
  • Joseph Payne
    Ridgeway Research Limited
  • Brendan G. Smith
    Bimeda UK
  • Karl Hoffmann
    Aberystwyth University

Infection with Fasciola hepatica (liver fluke) causes fasciolosis (or fascioliasis) and poses a considerable economic as well as welfare burden to both the agricultural and animal health sectors. Here, we explore the ex vivo anthelmintic potential of synthetic derivatives of hederagenin, isolated in bulk from Hedera helix. Thirty-six compounds were initially screened against F. hepatica newly excysted juveniles (NEJs) of the Italian strain. Eleven of these compounds were active against NEJs and were selected for further study, using adult F. hepatica derived from a local abattoir (provenance unknown). From these eleven compounds, six demonstrated activity and were further assessed against immature liver flukes of the Italian strain. Subsequently, the most active compounds (n = 5) were further evaluated in ex vivo dose response experiments against adult Italian strain liver flukes. Overall, MC042 was identified as the most active molecule and the EC 50 obtained from immature and adult liver fluke assays (at 24 h post co-culture) are estimated as 1.07 μM and 13.02 μM, respectively. When compared to the in vitro cytotoxicity of MDBK bovine cell line, MC042 demonstrated the highest anthelmintic selectivity (44.37 for immature and 3.64 for adult flukes). These data indicate that modified hederagenins display properties suitable for further investigations as candidate flukicides.

Keywords

  • Fasciola hepatica, Hedera helix, anthelmintic drug discovery, saponins and hederagenin
Original languageEnglish
Article number1869
JournalPharmaceutics
Volume15
Issue number7
Early online date3 Jul 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Jul 2023

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