Effect of the broad spectrum anthelmintic drug flubendazole upon Schistosoma mansoni experimentally infected mice.

The effect of the broad spectrum anthelmintic drug flubendazole (methyl 5-(p-fluorobenzoyl)-2-benzimidazolecarbamate, CAS 31430-15-6), a mebendazole derivative with a molecular weight of 313.29, on Schistosoma mansoni infection in mice was evaluated. Moreover, the relationship between the posttreatment worm burden, hepatic granuloma volume, and serum immunoglobulin profile (immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M, IgG and IgM), was also investigated. Two main groups of Swiss albino mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni cercariae were used in the experiment. Group I consisted of infected untreated control mice. The mice of group II were submitted to treatment with flubendazole 100 mg/kg body weight as single oral dose at different time intervals: Group IIa received treatment 24 h before infection. Group IIb received treatment 4 h after infection. Group IIc received treatment 25 days after infection. Mice treated 25 days after infection, compared to those treated in other time intervals, revealed a significant reduction in the recovery of adult schistosomes after portal perfusion (79.5%), a lower immunoglobulin level (IgG and IgM), and the smallest granuloma mean diameter (220.0 +/- 10.3 microns). These data were less salient in mice treated 4 h after, and 24 h before infection.