Characterization of Green Synthesis Silver Nanoparticles Extracts by Eucalyptus citratus Aqueous Leaves and Evaluated Against Schistosoma mansoni

Schistosomiasis stands out as a significant neglected tropical disease in Africa, resulting from the blood fluke, Schistosoma sp. The application of nanotechnology in addressing this particular disease is critically essential to mitigate the undesirable side effects associated with chemotherapy. The current investigation aimed to evaluate the efficacy of biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) extracts by Eucalyptus citratus aqueous leaves, as a novel alternative treatment for schistosomiasis, and to compare their effectiveness with Praziquantel (PZQ). Mature worms subjected to AgNPs at concentrations of 3.125, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100, and some of the AgNPs concentrations were added to and mixed with PZQ at concentrations of 12.5 + 0.4, 25 + 0.3, 50 + 0.2, and 75 + 0.1 μg/mL. Concentrations of 100 μg/mL of AgNPs showed complete mortality of adult worms after 6 h; 50 and 25 μg/mL after 12 h; and 12.5 μg/mL after 24 h, where the effectiveness of AgNPs was improved by adding PZQ. In vivo, four groups of hamsters infected with Schistosoma mansoni were treated. In the hamsters, the number of eggs present in the tissues as well as the size and number of granulomas significantly decreased when AgNPs and the mixed with PZQ were added. The properties of silver particles synthesized by E. citratus were identical and confirmed by all previous studies. These results demonstrated that green AgNPs with PZQ showed high activity against S. mansoni in laboratory experiments.