title: Hospital-based safety and tolerability study to assess efficacy of oral doxycycline in the treatment of Wuchereria bancrofti infection in north-eastern Tanzania.
abstract: A hospital based open-label clinical trial of 19 apparently healthy adult males with microfilaraemia was conducted to assess safety, tolerability and efficacy of doxycycline on Wuchereria bancrofti. Study individuals were assigned 8 weeks treatment with doxycycline 200 mg daily. The results of different selected tests showed that, the haematological, hepatic, renal and clinical parameters pre-and post-drug administrations were within the normal range for all treated individuals. Clinical adverse events were mild, transient, tolerable and reported in 7/19 (36.8%) of the study cohort. The mf clearance rate was 100% at 12 months post treatment for the 13 individuals who completed the follow up. These findings indicate that, although the drug was administered for a long period, there was no evidence of toxicity to the myocardium, hepatocytes, renal, bone marrow and blood cells, suggesting that an 8-week course of 200 mg/day doxycycline is a safe and tolerable regime for the treatment of Wuchereria bancrofti infections.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Medical Research, Tanga Research Centre, P.O. Box 950, Tanga, Tanzania. hwmakunde@hotmail.com
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Makunde
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Kamugisha
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Makunde
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Malecela
authors.forename: A Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Kitua
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D004318:Doxycycline / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions; D005368:Filariasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013636:Tanzania; D014958:Wuchereria bancrofti / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D004318:Doxycycline