Antibiotics and Wolbachia in filarial nematodes: antifilarial activity of rifampicin, oxytetracycline and chloramphenicol against Onchocerca gutturosa, Onchocerca lienalis and Brugia pahangi
S. Townson et al., Antibiotics and Wolbachia in filarial nematodes: antifilarial activity of rifampicin, oxytetracycline and chloramphenicol against Onchocerca gutturosa, Onchocerca lienalis and Brugia pahangi, ANN TROP M, 94(8), 2000, pp. 801-816
Citations number
30
Categorie Soggetti
Envirnomentale Medicine & Public Health","Medical Research General Topics
The activity against filarial parasites of the antibiotics rifampicin, oxyt
etracycline and chloramphenicol was examined. In addition, transmission ele
ctron microscopy was used to study the effects of rifampicin and oxytetracy
cline on filarial tissues and on the endosymbiont bacterium, Wolbachia.
When tested in vitro at a concentration of 50.0 muM, each of the three anti
biotics significantly reduced the motility levels of male Onchocerca guttur
osa. Rifampicin, however, was the most active, virtually immobilizing the p
arasite by the end of the 40-day trial and producing an 84% reduction in vi
ability (as measured by formazan-based colorimetry). In tests against O. li
enalis microfilariae (mff) in CBA mice, the numbers of mff recovered after
treatment with oxytetracycline at 100, 25 or 6.5 mg/kg daily, for 15 days,
were 56% (P less than or equal to0.03), 38% (P>0.05) and 45% (P = 0.05) les
s than that recovered from the untreated controls, respectively. In another
trial in mice, rifampicin (100 mg/kg daily for 15 days) was found to be th
e most active (causing a 74% reduction in the number of mff recovered-appro
ximately equal to that achieved with the positive control of a single dose
of ivermectin at 2 mug/kg), with chloramphenicol also showing significant a
ctivity (39% reduction). In further, in-vivo trials, at three dose levels (
100, 25 or 6.25 mg/kg daily, for 15 days), all three antibiotics were teste
d against adult Brugia pahangi in the peritoneal cavities of jirds. None of
the antibiotics produced a significant reduction in the numbers of live wo
rms recovered, although a marginal effect was observed in eight of the nine
antibiotic-treated groups. A further extended trial with rifampicin and ox
ytetracycline resulted in 43% and 38% reductions in worm recoveries, respec
tively (not statistically significant but consistent with a marginal effect
); some of these worms appeared less motile and qualitatively in poor condi
tion compared with those recovered from untreated jirds. Ultrastructural st
udies of these treated worms revealed that virtually all of the endosymbion
t bacteria had been cleared from the parasite tissues. The tissues of the a
dult worms appeared to be largely intact but with a granulomatous response
of host cells adhering to some specimens. However, developing uterine forms
appeared to be abnormal and extensively damaged, showing an abrogation of
embryogenesis. In contrast, worms recovered from control animals contained
large numbers of Wolbachia, had no adherent host cells, and showed normal u
ltrastructure; the female worms exhibited a full range of intra-uterine dev
eloping stages from eggs to stretched mff. It is likely that the activity o
f these antibiotics against the endosymbiont Wolbachia causes the observed
antifilarial activity, although some direct effect of each drug on filarial
viability cannot be ruled out.