Intensity of Schistosoma mansoni infection determines alterations in hepatic drug metabolism.

Zoxazolamine paralysis times have been used as a probe to measure the activities of cytochrome P450 1A1 in mice in vivo. The results indicate that male and female mice of the BALB/c and CBA/J strain do not show altered paralysis times if infected with less than 4 worm pairs. Alterations were observed only in animals harbouring more than 5 worm pairs irrespective of the sex or strain of mouse being used. The study has extended the findings of other workers showing that mice infected with fewer than 4-5 worm pairs of S. mansoni do not show any alteration in the metabolism of pentobarbital in vivo.