title: Efficacy of ivermectin in hookworms as examined in Ancylostoma caninum infections.
abstract: Single oral doses of ivermectin were given to dogs with moderate or heavy infections of Ancylostoma caninum (egg counts ranging from 7,100 to 41,700 eggs/g feces) at 100, 50, 30, or 10 micrograms/kg body weight. Each of these dosages was effective in clearing the infection completely, so that numerous worms were passed in the feces on days 1-3, but no worm was recovered from the intestinal tract at necropsy on day 4 after treatment. In contrast, an average of 178 worms per dog was recovered at necropsy from the vehicle-treated control and the untreated animals. Albendazole, a known anti-hookworm agent, even in a dose of 400 mg, eliminated only 21-65% of the worms harbored by the infected animals. No untoward reaction to ivermectin or significant pathological change was noted in the experimental animals. In vitro experiments demonstrated that ivermectin: (1) was highly detrimental to actively motile adult worms in concentrations greater than 5.60 micrograms/ml; (2) was detrimental to eggs inside the uterine tissue of female worms in dosages at or greater than 10 micrograms/kg body weight; and (3) killed infected larvae in concentrations as low as 0.0025 micrograms/ml.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: C I
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: X X
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Y Q
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Q Y
authors.initials: QY
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D015766:Albendazole; D000722:Ancylostoma / Q000187:drug effects*; D000724:Ancylostomiasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D001562:Benzimidazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007559:Ivermectin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D001562:Benzimidazoles; D007559:Ivermectin; D015766:Albendazole