Distinct antischistosomal profiles of antimalarials and TRP agonists

Artemether and mefloquine produce largely distinct adult Schistosoma mansoni transcriptional responses from praziquantel and meclonazepam, with only 33 upregulated and 63 downregulated shared transcripts.

• Why it matters: Field failures and laboratory-selected resistance to praziquantel create a need to identify antischistosomal alternatives and understand whether new drugs cross-resist with praziquantel.
• What they did: In infected mice, adult worms were recovered 48 hours after artemether or mefloquine treatment for comparative RNA-seq, then compared with existing TRP agonist datasets for praziquantel and meclonazepam.
• The result: In mice with praziquantel-susceptible versus resistant parasites, praziquantel reduced resistant male worm burdens by 39.3% (vs 99.0%), while meclonazepam, mefloquine, and artemether retained activity.

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