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Efficacy of 5-week doxycycline treatment on adult Onchocerca volvulus.
- Source :
-
Parasitology research [Parasitol Res] 2009 Jan; Vol. 104 (2), pp. 437-47. Date of Electronic Publication: 2008 Oct 11. - Publication Year :
- 2009
-
Abstract
- The effects of 5-week doxycycline treatment on the depletion of Wolbachia endobacteria from Onchocerca volvulus, on the interruption of embryogenesis and on microfilariae production, and with regard to macrofilaricidal activity were studied. In 2003, in an endemic area in Ghana, 22 onchocerciasis patients received 100 mg/day doxycycline for 5 weeks. Two years after the start of the study, 20 treated and ten untreated patients were nodulectomized and skin microfilariae were counted. The onchocercomas were examined by immunohistology for the presence of Wolbachia, embryogenesis, and vitality of adult filariae. The latter two parameters were further assessed by alternating logistic regression analysis, taking into account the dependency of worms and nodules in patients. Doxycycline resulted in depletion of Wolbachia and in complete interruption of embryogenesis in all worms that were assumed to have been present during treatment. In the treated patients, only 51% of the female worms were alive, compared to 84% in the untreated patients, indicating a moderate but distinct macrofilaricidal activity of doxycycline at this dose. It is concluded that, in areas with ongoing transmission, doxycycline cannot replace regular ivermectin mass treatment because new infections would require repeated rounds of doxycycline. However, doxycycline can be used for the treatment of individuals outside transmission areas, in foci where ivermectin resistance may occur, and in countries where onchocerciasis and loiasis are co-endemic.
- Subjects :
- Adolescent
Adult
Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents administration & dosage
Doxycycline administration & dosage
Female
Filaricides administration & dosage
Ghana
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Skin parasitology
Skin pathology
Survival Analysis
Young Adult
Anti-Bacterial Agents therapeutic use
Doxycycline therapeutic use
Filaricides therapeutic use
Onchocerca volvulus microbiology
Onchocerca volvulus physiology
Onchocerciasis drug therapy
Wolbachia drug effects
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0932-0113
- Volume :
- 104
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Parasitology research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 18850111
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-008-1217-8