Brugia malayi in Mastomys natalensis: efficacy of mebendazole in combination with Freund's complete adjuvant.

The chemotherapeutic efficacy of mebendazole given in combination with Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) against Brugia malayi in multimammate rat was evaluated. Animals treated with mebendazole, orally at 200 mg/kg x 5 consecutive days along with FCA given subcutaneously (s.c.) on day -10, day 0 and day +15 of the drug treatment killed 48.51% of the adult worms. This drug given alone at the same regimen and by the same route showed only 18.7% mortality rate on adults. Mebendazole given intraperitoneally along with FCA given s.c., however, was four times more efficacious as filaricide than mebendazole alone. Nevertheless, the animals receiving FCA alone also revealed 23.5% mortality rate of adult worms. The animals receiving a combination therapy or FCA alone showed significant increase in antibody titre to the filariae which however decreased in the later stages. No enhancement of antibody level could be detected in animals treated with mebendazole alone. The non-specific immunopotentiation induced by FCA appeared to play a major role in enhancing the activity of mebendazole.