In vivo efficacy of levamisole against larval stages of Angiostrongylus cantonensis and A. costaricensis.
Anti-larval effects of levamisole were examined on A. cantonensis in rats and A. costaricensis in mice. 1) In rats inoculated with 40 infective larvae of A. cantonensis: Compared with a non-treated control group, a significant reduction in number of worms recovered was seen in the group receiving a single dose of 1.0 mg/kg or more. A significant decrease in host lung-body weight ratio was seen in the group receiving drug of 3.0 mg/kg or more. 2) In mice inoculated with 20 infective larvae of A. costaricensis. In the non-treated control group, a severe loss in body weight and death of host animals were observed. A single dose of 30 mg/kg on 3, 4 or 5 days post-infection remarkably inhibited these changes. At 30 mg/kg for 3 or 7 days levamisole was more effective than a single dose of the drug. These results suggest that levamisole has conspicuous in vivo effects against larval stages of A. costaricensis as well as A. cantonensis.
Department of Parasitology, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Japan.
A I
AI
Ishii
M
M
Terada
Y
Y
Fujiu
M
M
Sano
D000284:Administration, Oral; D000801:Angiostrongylus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D007978:Levamisole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009349:Nematode Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D007978:Levamisole