alpha-Difluoromethylornithine: a promising lead for preventive chemotherapy for coccidiosis.
alpha-Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO; RMI 71,782) given in drinking water in concentrations as low as 0.0625% inhibited infections of Eimeria tenella and minimized the development of lesions in chickens. It had approximately the same activity as a currently used anticoccidial drug, amprolium, and also had the advantage of being relatively nontoxic in chickens. Body weight gains were not reduced in chickens given 0.0635% DFMO or less for 14 days starting 8 days before they were inoculated with oocysts, but were reduced in chickens given drinking water containing 0.125 and 0.25% DFMO. The anticoccidial activity of DFMO was completely reversed by injection (intraabdominal) of putrescine hydrochloride (300 mg/kg of body weight/day), indicating that the drug may act by blocking putrescine biosynthesis. Inoculated chickens, in which coccidial lesion development was suppressed by DFMO, resisted subsequent challenge exposure with E tenella, as did nontreated infected control birds which had recovered from infection.
D000818:Animals; D002429:Cecal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary; D002645:Chickens / Q000469:parasitology*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D003049:Coccidiostats / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000518:Eflornithine; D004539:Eimeria / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D009952:Ornithine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011700:Putrescine / Q000494:pharmacology
D003049:Coccidiostats; D009952:Ornithine; D011700:Putrescine; D000518:Eflornithine