Widely introduced parasitic control programs rely heavily on the use of synthetic or semi-synthetic antiparasitic compounds. The ineffectiveness of these therapies and growing drug resistance of nematodes leads researchers to search for new alternative methods to combat parasites. One proposal is to use the medicinal properties of herbs that have been used in medicine and veterinary practice for a longer period. The research of activity of plant extracts and their fractions are increasingly important to develop therapies that improve the health of humans and also animals. Anthelmintic properties of plant compounds may be used in an environment where invasive forms of parasites develop. At this stage different compounds can affect the growth and development of parasites, such as inhibiting the molting process. Knowledge of the development of nematodes is still incomplete. On account of the simple structure and transparent body of the nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans is a model species to study many phenomena. Development of the nematode (parasitic and free-living) is strictly programmed. Apoptosis is one of the major mechanisms involved in nematode development. The main apoptotic pathway proteins are CED-3, CED-4 (pro-apoptotic) and CED-9 (anti-apoptotic). Changes in the levels of these proteins may alter the course of organogenesis leading to adverse phenotypic effects. Saponins are compounds commonly occurring in the plant kingdom (both in edible plants and herbs). The mechanism of the action of triterpenoidsaponins per cell is not fully understood. They show numerous properties such as immunomodulatory, antiviral, cytotoxic, or antitumor. Particularly derivatives of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid exhibit a variety of pharmacological properties without toxic side-effects. Due to their characteristics active plant compounds, mainly derivatives of pentacyclictriterpenoids, are a potential source of anticancer, cytotoxic and anthelmintic new generation substances. These may affect the development of the parasite to regulate apoptosis. The discovery of the manner in which saponins are involved in apoptosis can be the first step toward the development a new drug for parasite diseases.
The honey bee is the fourth insect following the drosophila, the silkworm and the anopheles - whose genome has been fully investigated. Eighty percent of the methylation-prone apian genes are located in the brain. Only about 70 thousand out of the 60 million cytosines contained in the bee genome are methylated. Most of them have their primary methylation sites in the exons. In contrast to the intensive human genome methylation, only small and specific segments of the honey bee genome are methylated. It is estimated that approximately 35-40% of apian genes are deficient in CpG groups. DNA methylation increases the incidence of mutations at the CpG sites and may promptly lead to inconsistency between DNA sequences. Methylation in A. mellifera occurs exclusively in CpG dinucleotides characterized by a bimodal configuration and deamination of methylated CpGs to TpGs (CpA in the supplementary strand), resulting in GC mutating into AT. Genes with a low and high CpG content (low-CpG and high-CpG) are active in various biological processes. The low-CpG genes are typical of hypermethylation and particularly important for metabolism, ubiquitination, gene expression and translation. The high-CpG genes, in turn, primarily participate in hypomethylation and are fundamental for development processes, intercellular communication and adhesion. The sparing methylation system (of bees) offers unique possibilities for the study of methylation using a model organism that is much simpler than most laboratory plants and animals, let alone man. The specific epigenetic mechanisms active in the small apian genome make bees potential model objects for epigenetic analyses and experiments aiming at providing solutions to such human health problems as neoplastic, genetic, metabolic, vascular, neurological and immunological diseases.