In Vitro Antischistosomal Activity of the Argemone mexicana Methanolic Extract and Its Main Component Berberine

Background: Schistosomiasis has been identified as a major public health problem in tropical countries. The present study aimed to investigate the schistosomicidal effects of the methanolic extract of Argemone mexicana L. and its active component, berberine against Schistosoma mansoni on in-vitro experiments.

Methods: S. mansoni adults were used. Various concentrations of the methanolic extract (10 - 200 μg/ml) and berberine (2.5 - 50 μM) were tested from 24 to 72 h. The viability of S. mansoni was confirmed with an invertoscope-microscope. Furthermore, cytotoxic (Hemolysis test), and antioxidant (DPPH radical scavenging assay) capacities were determined.

Results: The viability tests on S. mansoni showed that A. mexicana at 50 μg/mL is lethal at 48 h and berberine at 10 μM is lethal at 24 h. The hemolytic activity at 1,000 μg/mL was 2.9% for A. mexicana and 90.2% for berberine. The antioxidant capacities shown by A. mexicana and berberine, were EC₅₀ 156.3 and 84.1 μg/mL, respectively.

Conclusion: The extract of A. mexicana and berberine demonstrated high antischistosomal activities in low concentration and short exposure time on the in-vitro model.