Efficacy of a combination of metrifonate and praziquantel in the treatment of Schistosoma mansoni infection in albino mice.

This study aimed to test the therapeutic effect of two antischistosomal drugs metrifonate (CAS 52-68-6) and praziquantel (CAS 55268-74-1), either alone or in combination, on mice infected with schistosoma mansoni. Both drugs were given in half of their therapeutic doses 8 weeks post infection. Animals were sacrificed two weeks after the last dose. The efficacy of the drugs was evaluated using the number of ova/g tissue, the distribution and the number of Schistosoma worms. Praziquantel and metrifonate alone produced about 91% and 22% reduction in total worm burden. The reduction in ova count in intestine and liver was 96% and 85%, respectively, using praziquantel alone while it was only 6 and 12%, respectively, after metrifonate treatment. After treatment with both drugs given in combination the number of ova count was not changed as compared with praziquantel alone; also there was no change in the worm load as compared with praziquantel. It is concluded that a combination of a low dose of praziquantel with metrifonate failed to produce any significantly better effect.