Macrofilaricidal effect of 4 weeks of treatment with doxycycline on Wuchereria bancrofti |
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Authors: | Debrah Alexander Yaw Mand Sabine Marfo-Debrekyei Yeboah Batsa Linda Pfarr Kenneth Buttner Marcelle Adjei Ohene Buttner Dietrich Hoerauf Achim |
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Affiliation: | Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine, Kumasi, Ghana; Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany; School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana |
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Abstract: | Objective To evaluate the efficacy of doxycycline as a macrofilaricidal agent against Wuchereria bancrofti. Method In the Western Region of Ghana, 18 patients infected with W. bancrofti were recruited and treated with 200 mg doxycycline per day for 4 weeks. Seven untreated patients served as controls. Four months after doxycycline treatment, all patients received 150 μg/kg ivermectin. Patients were monitored for Wolbachia and microfilaria loads, antigenaemia and filarial dance sign (FDS). Results Four months after doxycycline treatment, cases had a significantly lower Wolbachia load than controls; and 24 months after treatment, microfilaraemia, antigenaemia and frequency of FDS were significantly lower in cases than controls. Most importantly, 4 weeks of doxycycline killed 80% of macrofilariae, which is comparable with the results of a 6‐week regimen. Circulating filarial antigenaemia and FDS were strongly correlated. Conclusion A 4‐week regimen of doxycycline seems sufficient to kill adult W. bancrofti and could be advantageous for the treatment of individual patients, e.g. in outpatient clinics. |
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Keywords: | lymphatic filariasis Wuchereria bancrofti microfilaria Wolbachia doxycycline filarial dance sign |
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