AUTHOR=Aminu Suleiman , Chechet Gloria Dada , Alkhalil Samia S. , Sobeh Mansour , Daoud Rachid , Simelane Mthokozisi B. , Onyike Elewechi , Ibrahim Mohammed Auwal 

TITLE=Therapeutic efficacy of β-sitosterol treatment on Trypanosoma congolense infection, anemia development, and trans-sialidase (TconTS1) gene expression

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1282257

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1282257

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p>African animal trypanosomiasis hinders sustainable livestock productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. About 17 million infected cattle are treated with trypanocides annually but most of the drugs are associated with drawbacks, necessitating the search for a promising chemotherapeutic agent.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Objectives</title><p>In this study, the effects of β-sitosterol on <italic>Trypanosoma congolense</italic> infection were investigated along with its effect on the trans-sialidase gene expressions.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Oral treatment with β-sitosterol at 15 and 30 mg/kg body weight (BW) for 14 days significantly (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) reduced parasitemia and ameliorated the parasite-induced anemia. Also, the parasite-induced increase in serum urea level and renal histopathological damage scores in addition to renal hypertrophy was significantly (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) reverted following treatment with 30 mg/kg BW β-sitosterol. The compound also significantly (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05) down-regulated the expression of <italic>TconTS1</italic> but not <italic>TconTS2</italic>, <italic>TconTS3</italic>, and <italic>TconTS4</italic>. Correlation analysis between free serum sialic acid with the <italic>TconTS1</italic> and <italic>TconTS2</italic> gene variants revealed negative correlations in the β-sitosterol-treated groups although they were non-significant (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05) in the group treated with 15 mg/kg BW β-sitosterol. Similarly, a non-significant negative (<italic>p</italic> &gt; 0.05) correlation between the biomolecule and the <italic>TconTS3</italic> and <italic>TconTS4</italic> gene variants was observed in the β-sitosterol-treated groups while positive correlations were observed in the infected untreated control group.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>The observed effect of β-sitosterol on <italic>T. congolense</italic> infection could make the compound a possible template for the design of novel trypanocides.</p></sec>