title: Inhibitory effects of 19 antiprotozoal drugs and antibiotics on Babesia microti infection in BALB/c mice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Different results have been achieved in the evaluation of antiparasitic drug activity in Mongolian jirds, hamsters, and BALB/c mice infected with Babesia microti. The aims of the present study were to find a preferable method for drug screening and to re-evaluate the activity of several drugs against B. microti.
  
  
  METHODS
  The activity of 19 drugs on B. microti-infected BALB/c mice was evaluated. The study was built on Peters' four-day suppressive test, and the pathogenicity of the blood from the treated mice was also used as indicator.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that 15 of the 19 drugs had little or no in vivo effect against B. microti. The inhibitory rates of atovaquone and azithromycin were high at all doses, but the microscopy-negative blood of recovered mice was still infectious. Similar to robenidine hydrochloride at 25 and 50 mg/kg, primaquine at 100 mg/kg had a 100% inhibitory rate. Robenidine hydrochloride achieved a 100% inhibitory rate at 100 mg/kg, and the blood of recovered mice did not result in parasitemia in subpassage experiments. Parasite-negative blood from mice treated with antimalarial drugs (clinically used for babesiosis) still caused parasitemia in subpassage experiments. This suggests that these drugs cannot eradicate the parasites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Peters' four-day suppressive test and the pathogenicity of the blood from the treated mice are suitable methods for preliminary investigating possible drugs against B. microti. Considering that robenidine hydrochloride achieved the best activity against B. microti in BALB/c mice in our study, further studies are needed.
authors.affiliation: Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, MOH, WHO Collaborating Centre for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, Shanghai, China. yjm-25@outlook.com.
authors.forename: Jun-Ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Hao-Bing
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Cong-Shan
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D041001:Babesia microti / Q000187:drug effects*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D021261:Parasitic Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents