Efficacy of Miltefosine and Artemether on infected Biomphalaria alexandrina snails with Schistosoma mansoni: immunological and histological studies

Biomphalaria alexandrina snails have received much attention due to their great medical importance as vectors for transmitting Schistosoma mansoni infection to humans. The main objective of the present work was to assess the efficacy of miltefosin a synthetic molluscicidal drug and artemether a natural molluscicidal drug. The correlation between immunological and histological observations from light and electron microscopy of the hemocytes of B. alexandrina post treatment with both drugs was also evaluated. LC₅₀ and LC₉₀ values were represented by 13.80 ppm and 24.40 ppm for miltefosine and 16.88 ppm and 27.97 ppm for artemether, respectively. The results showed that the treatment of S. mansoni-infected snails and normal snails with sublethal dose of miltefosine (LC₂₅₌8.20 ppm) and artemether (LC₂₅₌11.04 ppm) induced morphological abnormalities and a significant reduction in hemocytes count.