Metformin Suppresses Development of the Echinococcus multilocularis Larval Stage by Targeting the TOR Pathway.

ABSTRACT: Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a severe disease caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis Current chemotherapeutic treatment options based on benzimidazoles are of limited effectiveness, which underlines the need to find new antiechinococcosis drugs. Metformin is an antihyperglycemic and antiproliferative agent that shows activity against the related parasite Echinococcus granulosus Hence, we assessed the in vitro and in vivo effects of the drug on E. multilocularis Metformin exerted significant dose-dependent killing effects on in vitro cultured parasite stem cells and protoscoleces and significantly reduced the dedifferentiation of protoscoleces into metacestodes. Likewise, oral administration of metformin (50 mg/kg

SUBMITTER: Loos JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7449199 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature