Discovery of a highly synergistic anthelmintic combination that shows mutual hypersusceptibility.
The soil-transmitted helminths or nematodes (hookworms, whipworms, and Ascaris) are roundworms that infect more than 1 billion of the poorest peoples and are leading causes of morbidity worldwide. Few anthelmintics are available for treatment, and only one is commonly used in mass drug administrations. New anthelmintics are urgently needed, and crystal (Cry) proteins made by Bacillus thuringiensis are promising new candidates. Combination drug therapies are considered the ideal treatment for infectious diseases. Surprisingly, little work has been done to define the characteristics of anthelmintic combinations. Here, by means of quantitative assays with wild-type and mutants of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, we establish a paradigm for studying anthelmintic combinations using Cry proteins and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) agonists, e.g., tribendimidine and levamisole. We find that nAChR agonists and Cry proteins, like Cry5B and Cry21A, mutually display what is known in the HIV field as hypersusceptibility--when the nematodes become resistant to either class, they become hypersensitive to the other class. Furthermore, we find that when Cry5B and nAChR agonists are combined, their activities are strongly synergistic, producing combination index values as good or better than seen with antitumor, anti-HIV, and insecticide combinations. Our study provides a powerful means by which anthelmintic combination therapies can be examined and demonstrate that the combination of nAChR agonists and Cry proteins has excellent properties and is predicted to give improved cure rates while being recalcitrant to the development of parasite resistance.
Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0322, USA.
Yan
Y
Hu
Edward G
EG
Platzer
Audrey
A
Bellier
Raffi V
RV
Aroian
D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D006369:Heligmosomatoidea; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006801:Humans; D007978:Levamisole / Q000008:administration & dosage; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000008:administration & dosage; D021261:Parasitic Sensitivity Tests; D010655:Phenylenediamines / Q000008:administration & dosage; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000188:drug therapy
D000871:Anthelmintics; D000083722:Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004731:Endotoxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D010655:Phenylenediamines; C030956:insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis; C056017:tribendimidine; D007978:Levamisole