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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, May 1998, p. 1052-1056, Vol. 42, No. 5
0066-4804/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

In Vitro Activities of Benzimidazoles against Echinococcus multilocularis Metacestodes

Heike Jura,1 Augustinus Bader,2 and Matthias Frosch1,*

Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg,1 and Leibniz-Institut für Biotechnologie, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover,2 Germany

Received 2 December 1997/Returned for modification 27 January 1998/Accepted 25 February 1998

Alveolar echinococcosis, caused by the larval (metacestode) stage of the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, is a lethal parasitosis of the liver prevalent in the Northern Hemisphere. For chemotherapy the benzimidazole derivatives mebendazole and albendazole were introduced, and their use has resulted in a significant improvement in the survival rates. However, data from experiments with animals and clinical observations indicate that these drugs elicit only parasitostatic activity and in most cases are not able to completely eliminate the parasitic metacestode tissue. In the present study, we applied a culture system for the in vitro growth and proliferation of E. multilocularis metacestodes to analyze the parasitostatic and parasitocidal potential of mebendazole. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that at concentrations of >0.1 µM, i.e., at concentrations used for therapy of human alveolar echinococcosis, this antihelminth drug is parasitocidal in vitro. Viability assessment was performed by infection experiments with Meriones unguiculatus and mebendazole-treated metacestode tissue and by reverse transcription-PCR for the detection of E. multilocularis mRNA. The E. multilocularis in vitro model proved to be a valuable tool for the analysis of the potential of antihelminth drugs.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie, Universität Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Straße 2, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. Phone: (931) 201-5161. Fax: (931) 201-3445. E-mail: mfrosch{at}hygiene.uni-wuerzburg.de.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, May 1998, p. 1052-1056, Vol. 42, No. 5
0066-4804/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Reuter, S., Manfras, B., Merkle, M., Harter, G., Kern, P. (2006). In Vitro Activities of Itraconazole, Methiazole, and Nitazoxanide versus Echinococcus multilocularis Larvae.. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 50: 2966-2970 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
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