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Medical AI Inquiry: You was designed to assist in medical decision-making based on the provided user questions. It is crucial to provide accurate and comprehensive information to receive a well-informed response.  Labels: BACKGROUND, METHODS. Meshes: .
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Do biochemical and biophysical methodologies open the road for effective schistosomiasis therapy and vaccination? Context: Schistosomiasis caused by blood-dwelling flukes, namely Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium is a severe debilitating disease, widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South America. Developing and adult worms are unscathed by the surrounding immune effectors and antibodies because the parasite is protected by a double lipid bilayer armor which allows access of nutrients, while binding of specific antibodies is denied. Fluorescence recovery after bleaching, extraction of surface membrane cholesterol by methyl-β-cyclodextrin, inhibition and activation of sphingomyelin biosynthesis and hydrolysis, and elastic incoherent and quasi-elastic neutron scattering approaches have helped to clarify the basic mechanism of this immune evasion, and showed that sphingomyelin (SM) molecules in the worm apical lipid bilayer form with surrounding water molecules a tight hydrogen bond barrier. Viability of the parasite and permeability of the outer shield are controlled by equilibrium between SM biosynthesis and activity of a tegument-associated neutral sphingomyelinase (nSMase).
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Excessive nSMase activation by polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), such as arachidonic acid (ARA) leads to disruption of the SM molecules and associated hydrogen bond network, with subsequent access of host antibodies and immune effectors to the outer membrane and eventual parasite death. Final Decision: yes