23 – Parasiticides I Flashcards
Basic principles of parasiticides
- Need to have a good idea of what you are treating
o Life cycle
o Parts of life cycle that can’t be treated - Need to know duration of treatment if you want to eradicate
- *management
Benzimidazole mechanism of action
- Binds to parasite beta-tubulin subunit (microtubule)
o Disrupts parasite cell shape, division, motility, secretion, absorption, etc.
o Binds to mammalian tubulin too, but dissociates quickly=little effect - *increase drug-parasite exposure time correlates with efficacy
- (microtubule disruptors in chemo drugs)
Benzimidazole generally safe in mammals: one example in dogs with prolonged dosing in dogs
- Bone marrow hypoplasia and pancytopenia reported after PROLONGED DOSING in puppies at high doses
- *generally not many side effects
Benzimidazole spectrum of activity
- BROAD SPECTRUM ANTIHELMINTICS
o GI and lung nematodes (roundworms)
o Some cestodes (tapeworms) and trematodes (flukes: minimal as in liver and not much exposure happens there)
Differences in anthelmintic activity between benzimidazoles is likely due to differences in
- PK (ie. Absorption and distribution)
- *anthelmintic potency generally similar
Benzimidazole PK: absorption
- Generally poorly water-soluble
o Formulations: pastes, suspensions, granules - Usually poor ORAL bioavailability
o Limited by solubility in GI tract (fine for GI roundworm efficacy)
o Works well in ruminants: rumen is a reservoir and then slowly released into intestines
Benzimidazole PK: distribution
- Generally high (but variable)
Benzimidazole PK: metabolism and excretion
- Extensive HEPATIC metabolism (CYP enzymes)
o 1st pass effects if oral absorption does occur - Also metabolism in lungs and intestines
- *metabolites have varying levels of activity
What are some benzimidazole formulations?
- *Fenbendazole (ex. Panacur, Safe-Guard)
- Febental
- Albendazole
- (NOT in Canada: Triclabendazole)
Fenbendazole is licensed for use in
- Horses (suspensions, pastes, granules)
- Cattle (suspensions, feed premixes)
- Swine, chicken, turkeys (Gel or Safe-guard mix)
- Dogs (panacur granules)
What are the label claims of Fenbendazole?
- Wide range of NEMATODES (especially adult GI worms, lung worms)
o Strongyles, ascarids, whipworms, hookworms, pinworms, etc.
o Cestodes: Taenia claim in DOGS
Fenbendazole is commonly used OFF-LABEL in
- Small ruminants (sheep and goats)
- Cats
- birds/reptiles/other exotics
- *can be used as it has a DIN
Fenbendazole off-label use in cats
- used for variety of nematode infections, Giardia
- popular choice for clinical disease associated with lungworm (Aelurostrongylus)
Febental
- fenbendazole pro-drug
Drontal plus:
- Febental, includes pyrantel (just another general dewormer) and praziquantel (specific for tapeworms)
- licensed for use in dogs
- *’general dewormer’
Albendazole (Valbazen)
- oral suspension licensed for use in cattle
- *do get into the blood stream (likely why some fluke activity)
- possible teratogenic early in gestation (don’t use within 21 days of breeding)
Albendazole (Valbazen) indications
- some ADULT flukes (Fasciola hepatica)
- ADULT tapeworms
- Same GI and lung adult round worms as Fenbendazole
Triclabendazole (Fascinex)
- Like albendazole with Cl- attached
- Active against adult and JUVENILE F. hepatica
- Active against F. gigantica, F. magna and Paragonimus (lung fluke)
- *gets flukes super well but not other things (gets all stages!)
- NOT licensed in Canada
o Emergency drug release
What is an emergency drug release?
- Authorization to permit the manufacture of a new drug to sell a limited quantity of new drug to veterinarian
o Not marketed in Canada
o Requested by practitioner for purpose of diagnosing or treating a medical emergency
What are the foreign drug eligibility criteria for an emergency drug release?
- Medication used to treat/diagnose and SERIOUS disease condition
- NOT marketed in Canada
- Documented clinical efficacy and target animal safety data are available for product
- No comparable products available for effectively diagnosing/treating the condition