THE EFFICACY OF 2 ELECTRON-TRANSPORT INHIBITORS (720C80 AND 993C76) ON MURINE STRONGYLOIDIASIS - A COMPARISON WITH ALBENDAZOLE

The clinical efficacy of albendazole (ABZ) in the treatment of chronic uncomplicated strongyloidiasis has been reported to be highly variabl e. In our murine model of strongyloidiasis a single oral dose of 5 and 10 mg kg-1 ABZ reduced (at day 4 post infection) the faecal larval co unt (FLC) by 54.2 +/- 12.5% and 81.5 +/- 10.2%, respectively. 100 mg k g-1 ABZ reduced the FLC by 100%. Two inhibitors of protozoan and filar ial electron transport (720C80 and 993C76) inhibited the endogenous O2 consumption of intact infective (L3) larvae of S. ratti by > 50% at 2 x 10(-5) M in vitro, and reduced the FLC by 72 +/- 9.3 % and 62.0 +/- 10.3% respectively in vivo, at a dose of 70 mg kg-1. These results su ggest that compounds designed as selective inhibitors of protozoan ele ctron transport have significant efficacy against murine strongyloidia sis and may prove useful in the management of human strongyloidiasis.