title: Efficacy of a single milbemycin oxime administration in combination with praziquantel against experimentally induced heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in cats.
abstract: The efficacy of a combination of milbemycin oxime and praziquantel in preventing the establishment of experimentally induced heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection was investigated in a study involving 24 young domestic short-hair cats. The animals were inoculated with 50 infective larvae on day 0. Subsequently they were divided into two groups of 12 animals each. The animals in group 1 were treated once with medicated tablets containing 4 mg milbemycin (minimum dose 2 mg/kg body weight) and 10 mg praziquantel (MILBEMAX) on day 30 after infection. Cats in group 2 received placebo tablets on the same day. On day 183 post-infection a blood sample was taken from each animal before euthanasia and necropsy. The blood samples were tested for the presence of microfilariae and the necropsied animals were examined for the presence of adult worms. Microfilariae were not found in any of the investigated cats. No heartworms were found in the animals in group 1 (treated with medicated tablets). Out of the 12 placebo-treated cats 1 was heartworm-free, whereas all the others were found to be infected with 1-3 adult heartworms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Pathology, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 10, 20133 Milano, Italy. claudio.genchi@unimi.it
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Genchi
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cody
authors.forename: Graziano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pengo
authors.forename: Gottfried
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Büscher
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cavalleri
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bucci
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Junquera
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002415:Cats; D004183:Dirofilaria immitis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004184:Dirofilariasis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D018942:Macrolides / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D011223:Praziquantel / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011897:Random Allocation; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D018942:Macrolides; C078973:milbemycin oxime; D011223:Praziquantel