Larvicidal activity of albendazole against Necator americanus in human volunteers.
This study evaluated the efficacy and tolerance of a single oral 400-mg dose of albendazole on Necator americanus larvae, and compared its efficacy when administered between meals or with a meal. Twenty-nine healthy and hookworm-free male volunteers were exposed on the forearm to approximately 45 8-day-old N. americanus larvae. All subjects developed discrete maculopapular eruptions at the site of larval application. Following a random double-blind study design, each subject received at the end of the 6th post-infection day either the investigational drug or a placebo as follows: Group I (n = 8)-placebo; Group II (n = 11)-400 mg albendazole with a meal; Group III (n = 10)-400 mg albendazole 3 or more hours after or before a meal. On day 56 post-infection, the stools of all subjects who received placebo were positive for N. americanus eggs (by zinc sulfate flotation technique), compared with 48% positivity (10/21) in those who received albendazole (P = 0.01). By day 63 post-infection, an additional three subjects in the treatment group became positive, for an overall 62% rate of positivity (13/21), i.e., albendazole prevented patent infection in 38%. Administration of albendazole with a meal did not alter drug efficacy. In those subjects in whom patent infections were not prevented, egg output was one-fourth that of the placebo group. There was no difference in viability of eggs appearing in feces of treated and untreated subjects as judged by larval development in Harada-Mori cultures. Our data indicate that albendazole is active against pre-intestinal stages of N. americanus in human infections.
D015766:Albendazole; D001562:Benzimidazoles / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D004804:Eosinophils; D005215:Fasting; D005502:Food; D006801:Humans; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D009331:Necator / Q000187:drug effects; D009332:Necatoriasis / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology
D001562:Benzimidazoles; D015766:Albendazole