The most common medications for the treatment of zoonotic toxoplasmosis are pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine, which may cause serious undesirable side effects. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutics. Baicalein (BAI, C₁₅H₁₀O₅) has been shown to perform well against protozoan parasites including Leishmania and Cryptosporidium. In this study, the inhibition efficacy of BAI on Toxoplasma gondii was evaluated using plaque, invasion, and intracellular proliferation assays. BAI effectively inhibited T. gondii (half-maximum inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀)=6.457×10^-5 mol/L), with a reduced invasion rate (33.56%) and intracellular proliferation, and exhibited low cytotoxicity (half-maximum toxicity concentration (TC₅₀)=5.929×10^-4 mol/L). Further investigation using a mouse model shed light on the inhibitory efficacy of BAI against T. gondii, as well as the potential mechanisms underlying its anti-parasitic effects. The survival time of T. gondii-infected ICR mice treated with BAI was remarkably extended, and their parasite burdens in the liver and spleen were greatly reduced compared with those of the negative control group. Histopathological examination of live sections revealed effective therapeutic outcomes in the treatment groups, with no notable pathological alterations observed. Furthermore, alterations in cytokine levels indicated that BAI not only effectively suppressed the growth of T. gondii but also prevented excessive inflammation in mice. Collectively, these findings underscore the significant inhibitory efficacy of BAI against T. gondii, positioning it as a promising alternative therapeutic agent for toxoplasmosis.
Animals ; Toxoplasma/drug effects* ; Flavanones/therapeutic use* ; Mice ; Antiparasitic Agents/therapeutic use* ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Toxoplasmosis/drug therapy* ; Female

A total number of 2221sera collected from different kinds of subjects , i.e.patients with various stages of schistosomiasis. normal individuals, persons with other parasitic diseases or non-parasitic diseases, were detected with Dot Immunogold Filtration Assay (DIGFA) using anti-SVLBP IgG as capturig antibody. Positive rate of 70 sera from patients with acute schistosomiasis was 100%, and that of 307 sera with chronic schistosomiasis was 68.4% .None of 200 sera from normal individuals showed false positive reaction. No obvious cross reaction was found in sera from other parasitic/non-parasitic diseases except sera from patients with paragonimiasis.2 batches of sera were detected with DIGFA by single-blindness method. Results showed that sensitivities to chronic schistosomiasis were 69.4% and 68.9%, and 100% to acute schistosomiasis while specificities were 98.9%-99% .508 samples from residents in endemic areas were tested with DIGFA and Kato-Katz. Positive rate of circulating arrtigen was 20.9% with DIGFA while 65 samples were positive with stool examination.46 samples were positive both by DIGFA and by Kato-katz.The coincidental rate was 70.8% .These results indicated that DIGFA showed sensitive and specific in the detection of circulating antigen. It will be useful in mass application and vahuable in epidemiological stuvey.

Objective To detect the change of the anti-S. japonicum antibody level after people migrated from outside embankment to newly established town. Methods Three pilot spots were established for the investigation: one spot thut both inhabitancy and cultivation disused (A), one spot that only inhabitancy disused but farming continued (B) and the third one served as control (C). DIGFA and ELISA were used to detect the antibody level in the populations from 2002 to 2005. Results The positive rate of anti-S.japonkum antibody declined significantly from 6.63% to 3.52% by DIGFA and from 7.26% to 3.71% by ELISA at spot A (X2=5.2625, P