Aw. Stitt et al., THE EFFECT OF TRICLABENDAZOLE (FASINEX) ON PROTEIN-SYNTHESIS BY THE LIVER FLUKE, FASCIOLA-HEPATICA, International journal for parasitology, 25(4), 1995, pp. 421-429
The effect of the active sulphoxide metabolite of the anthelmintic tri
clabendazole (TCBZ-SX, 15-50 mu g ml(-1)) on the incorporation of radi
oactively labelled [C-14] leucine by adult Fasciola hepatica tissue sl
ices was measured by liquid scintillation counting. In addition, the a
bility of the microfilament-disrupting drug, cytochalasin B, and the m
icrotubule-disrupting drug, tubulozole-C, to inhibit protein synthesis
, was assessed by similar methods and compared with TCBZ-SX. The estab
lished protein synthesis inhibitors, cycloheximide and actinomycin D w
ere used as positive controls. All the drugs showed a significant inhi
bition of protein synthesis, albeit to different extents; however, TCB
Z-SX was the most potent, with no significant difference between its e
ffect and that of cycloheximide or actinomycin D. Moreover, the concen
tration of TCBZ-SX, above 15 mu g ml(-1), had little further influence
on incorporation of [C-14] leucine. This investigation demonstrates t
he inhibitory effect of TCBZ-SX, cytochalasin B and tubulozole-C on pr
otein synthesis in F. hepatica and confirms the qualitative observatio
ns made in several previous ultrastructural studies.