Opisthorchiasis, caused by the liver fluke Opisthorchis felineus, remains a significant public health problem in Western Siberia and other parts of Eurasia. The present study investigated the anthelmintic and hepatoprotective properties of a polysaccharide complex (PC) extracted from Populus tremula bark. Anthelmintic activity was assessed in vitro against O. felineus worms using motility scores, MTS viability assay, and propidium iodide (PI) staining. Hepatoprotective potential was evaluated in HepG2 cells using lipopolysaccharide/interferon-g (LPS/IFN-g) induced inflammation and free fatty acid (FFA) induced lipotoxicity models; reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduced glutathione (GSH), and intracellular lipid content were measured fluorimetrically. Antioxidant activity was further characterised by DPPH radical scavenging and ferrous ion chelating assays. PC significantly reduced worm motility and viability (calculated motility index decreased by approximately 45%, from 3.80 to 2.10), and induced focal tegumental PI accumulation, consistent with surface damage. In the LPS/IFN-g model, PC at 125 µg/mL decreased ROS by 14% (p=0.001) and partially restored GSH content by 25% (p=0.016). In FFA treated cells, the same concentration attenuated ROS by 15.5% (p=0.001) and reduced lipid accumulation by 22.8% (p=0.008). PC did not affect HepG2 viability. The complex demonstrated modest DPPH radicalscavenging activity (33.6% at 200 µg/mL) and a pronounced Fe2+ chelating capacity (24.70±2.63 mg EDTA equivalents/g). These first initial in vitro findings identify P. tremula bark PC as a candidate dualaction agent for treating of opisthorchiasis, combining direct anthelmintic activity with multi-targeted hepatoprotective effects that warrant confirmation in further mechanistic and in vivo studies.
The COVID-19 restrictions have impacted people's lifestyles in all spheres (social, psychological, political, economic, and others). This study explored which factors affected the level of anxiety during the time of the first wave of COVID-19 and subsequent quarantine in a substantial proportion of 23 countries, included in this study. The data was collected from May to August 2020 (5 June 2020). The sample included 15,375 participants from 23 countries: (seven from Europe: Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Russia; 11 from West, South and Southeast Asia: Armenia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey; two African: Nigeria and Tanzania; and three from North, South, and Central America: Brazil, Canada, United States). Level of anxiety was measured by means of the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the 20-item first part of The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)-State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). Respondents were also asked about their personal experiences with COVID-19, attitudes toward measures introduced by governments, changes in attitudes toward migrants during a pandemic, family income, isolation conditions, etc. The factor analysis revealed that four factors explained 45.08% of variance in increase of anxiety, and these components were interpreted as follows: (1) personal awareness of the threat of COVID-19, (2) personal reaction toward officially undertaken measures and attitudes to foreigners, (3) personal trust in official sources, (4) personal experience with COVID-19. Three out of four factors demonstrated strong associations with both scales of anxiety: high level of anxiety was significantly correlated with high level of personal awareness of the threat of COVID-19, low level of personal reaction toward officially undertaken measures and attitudes to foreigners, and high level of presence of personal experience with COVID-19. Our study revealed significant main effects of sex, country, and all four factors on the level of anxiety. It was demonstrated that countries with higher levels of anxiety assessed the real danger of a pandemic as higher, and had more personal experience with COVID-19. Respondents who trusted the government demonstrated lower levels of anxiety. Finally, foreigners were perceived as the cause of epidemic spread.