Anthelmintic usage on the performance of the Agouti (Dasyprocta leporina) reared intensively in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies

Anthelmintic drugs have been used strategically in livestock reared in the tropics. These drugs have been used in the treatment of endoparasitism which have resulted in an increase in the animals’ performance. The agouti (Dasyprocta leporina) is a neo-tropical rodent with the potential for domestication and has been farmed intensively in Trinidad. However, the objective of this research was to investigate the effect of anthelmintic use of the growth performance of the agouti. In searching the literature, it was found that this type of study on the agouti has not been done. In this experiment fourteen weaned agoutis weighing 1kg were divided into two groups randomly. The first group (T1) was not given any anthelmintic treatment but the second group (T2) was treated with Endovet Ces® subcutaneously every three months. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) between the two groups in the carcass weight, weight gain, dressing percentage (hot and cold), heart, lungs, skin, head and feet. However, a significant difference (p < 0.05) was seen between groups in the weight of liver and pluck. To the authors knowledge this is the first time that carcass parameters has been presented in literature. The live weight of the animals at the end of the experiment ranged from 2.4 kg to 2.6 kg and animals had a dressing percentage of 57% to 55%. The results are suggestive that the use of anthelmintic drugs in agoutis reared intensively had no significant effect on weight gain and dressing percentage.

Computational repurposing of benzimidazole anthelmintic drugs as potential colchicine binding site inhibitors

Background: Although some benzimidazole-based anthelmintic drugs are found to possess anticancer activity, their modes of binding interactions have not been reported. Methodology: In this study, we aimed to investigate the binding interactions and electronic configurations of nine benzimidazole-based anthelmintics against one of the well-known cancer targets (tubulin protein). Results: Binding affinities of docked benzimidazole drugs into colchicine-binding site were calculated where flubendazole > oxfendazole > nocodazole > mebendazole. Flubendazole was found to bind more efficiently with tubulin protein than other drugs. Quantum mechanics studies revealed that the electron density of HOMO of flubendazole and mebendazole together with their molecular electrostatic potential map are closely similar to that of nocodazole. Conclusion: Our study has ramifications for considering repurposing of flubendazole as a promising anticancer candidate.

Infection With The Pinworm Blatticola Blattae And Survival of Starving German Cockroaches, Blattella Germanica

The German cockroach, Blattella germanica, is often infected with the pinworm, Blatticola blattae. To investigate the effect of pinworm infection on cockroach survival, we artificially manipulated the pinworm infection status of two lines of German cockroaches kept in the laboratory and compared survival rates in starvation. Of the two lines of German cockroaches WATn and NIIDp bred in the laboratory, the WATn line was not infected with pinworm, and the NIIDp line was naturally infected with pinworm B. blattae. The WATp line was created by artificially infecting the pinworm B. blattae with this WATn line. The NIIDn line was created by treating the NIIDp line with anthelmintic drugs. The 50% survival days of uninfected WATn line of starving cockroaches was 8 days, and infected WATp line of starving cockroaches was 13 days. The 50% survival days of naturally infected NIIDp line of starving cockroaches was 6 days, and that of anthelmintic-treated NIIDn line of cockroaches was 4 days. The survival days were significantly longer in pinworm-infected cockroaches than uninfected or anthelmintic-treated cockroaches. These results suggest that pinworm infection enhances the survival of cockroaches under starving conditions.

Newly identified parasitic nematode beta-tubulin alleles confer resistance to benzimidazoles

Infections by parasitic nematodes cause large health and economic burdens worldwide. We use anthelmintic drugs to reduce these infections. However, resistance to anthelmintic drugs is extremely common and increasing worldwide. It is essential to understand the mechanisms of resistance to slow its spread. Recently, four new parasitic nematode beta-tubulin alleles have been identified in benzimidazole (BZ) resistant parasite populations: E198I, E198K, E198T, and E198stop. These alleles have not been tested for the ability to confer resistance or for any effects that they might have on organismal fitness. We introduced these four new alleles into the sensitive C. elegans laboratory-adapted N2 strain and exposed these genome-edited strains to both albendazole and fenbendazole. We found that all four alleles conferred resistance to both BZ drugs. Additionally, we tested for fitness consequences in both control and albendazole conditions over seven generations in competitive fitness assays. We found that none of the edited alleles had deleterious effects on fitness in control conditions and that all four alleles conferred strong and equivalent fitness benefits in BZ drug conditions. Because it is unknown if previously validated alleles confer a dominant or recessive BZ resistance phenotype, we tested the phenotypes caused by five of these alleles and found that none of them conferred a dominant BZ resistance phenotype. Accurate measurements of resistance, fitness effects, and dominance caused by the resistance alleles allow for the generation of better models of population dynamics and facilitate control practices that maximize the efficacy of this critical anthelmintic drug class.

A Rare Site of Parasitic Granuloma

Parasitic infection is common infestation encountered. Poor hygiene, barefoot walking, sexual contact, consumption of uncooked food, contact with infected feces are the modes of transmission of parasite in a human Body. Parasitic infection may lead to Anemia, malnourishment, Generalized weakness (1). Key words: Filarial Nematode, Anthelmintic drugs.

Mechanochemical Technology for the Regulation of the Solubility of Anthelmintic Drugs Using Polymers

Controlling the solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs remains one of the major challenges in the development of new effective drugs. The use of polymers is one of the promising routes for increasing the solubility of drug substances. This review summarizes the results of investigations on the application of oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, and other polymers to increase the solubility and bioavailability of anthelmintic drugs, which relate to different classes of organic compounds, by mechanochemical methods.

High-Throughput Phenotypic Assay to Screen for Anthelmintic Activity on Haemonchus contortus

Parasitic worms cause very significant diseases in animals and humans worldwide, and their control is critical to enhance health, well-being and productivity. Due to widespread drug resistance in many parasitic worms of animals globally, there is a major, continuing demand for the discovery and development of anthelmintic drugs for use to control these worms. Here, we established a practical, cost-effective and semi-automated high throughput screening (HTS) assay, which relies on the measurement of motility of larvae of the barber’s pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) using infrared light-interference. Using this assay, we screened 80,500 small molecules and achieved a hit rate of 0.05%. We identified three small molecules that reproducibly inhibited larval motility and/or development (IC50 values of ~4 to 41 µM). Future work will critically assess the potential of selected hits as candidates for subsequent optimisation or repurposing against parasitic nematodes. This HTS assay has a major advantage over most previous assays in that it achieves a ≥ 10-times higher throughput (i.e., 10,000 compounds per week), and is thus suited to the screening of libraries of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of compounds for subsequent hit-to-lead optimisation or effective repurposing and development. The current assay should be adaptable to many socioeconomically important parasitic nematodes, including those that cause neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). This aspect is of relevance, given the goals of the World Health Organization (WHO) Roadmap for NTDs 2021–2030, to develop more effective drugs and drug combinations to improve patient outcomes and circumvent the ineffectiveness of some current anthelmintic drugs and possible drug resistance.