Inflammation, Oxidative Stress and L-Fucose as Indispensable Participants in Schistosomiasis-Associated Colonic Dysplasia

Background: Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease causing chronic ill health in humans with a seriousconsequences for socio-economic development in tropical and subtropical regions. There is also evidence linkingSchistosoma mansoni to colonic carcinoma occurrence. The aim of this study was to evaluate some inflammatoryand oxidative stress biomarkers, as well as L-fucose as linkers between intestinal schistosomiasis and colonicdysplasia development in mice. Materials and
Methods: This study was conducted upon 80 mice that were dividedthe control group (10 non infected mice) and infected group which was subdivided into 7 sub-groups (10 miceeach) according to the time of sacrifaction in the post infection (p.i.) period, 10 mice being sacrificed every twoweeks from 6 weeks p.i. to 18 weeks p.i. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS), and pentraxin 3 (PTX3) levels were estimated by immunoassay. The L-fucose level, and thioredoxinreductase (TrxR) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities were also evaluated in colonic tissue.
Results: Thecurrent study revealed statistically significant elevation in the studied biochemical markers especially at 16 and18 weeks p.i. The results were confirmed by histopathological examination that revealed atypical architecturaland cytological changes in the form of epithelial surface serration and nuclear hyper-chromatizia at 14, 16 and18 weeks p.i.
Conclusions: inflammation, oxidative stress and L-fucose together may form an important linkbetween Schistosomal mansoni infection and colonic dysplasia and they can be new tools for prediction of colonicdysplasia development in experimental schistosomiasis.