Fig. 3
Antischistosomal effects of PZQ, DW-3-15, and their combinations in vitro. The viability of S. japonicum males (a), females (b), and juveniles (c) was assessed by propidium iodide (PI) incorporation following exposure for 72 h. The worms were exposed to 100 μM PZQ, 100 μM DW-3-15, PDa (50 μM PZQ combined with 50 μM DW-3-15), and PDb (100 μM PZQ combined with 100 μM DW-3-15) for 16 h, washed three times with DMEM the next day, and then cultured in drug-free complete DMEM for 72 h. The untreated control group was incubated in complete DMEM with 0.1% DMSO. The worms were then treated with PI for 15 min at 37 °C. Notably, stronger fluorescence signals were observed in worms exposed to DW-3-15 and the combination compounds than to PZQ alone, indicating that the tissue of the former was markedly damaged. Scale bars: 500 μm