Efficacy of oral administration of ascofuranone with and without glycerol against Trypanosoma congolense.

In many developing countries, trypanosomosis in animals results in the reduction of livestock productivity. Since trypanosomosis is endemic to rural areas where medical and veterinary infrastructure is underdeveloped, development of affordable and easy-to-maintain drugs for treatment and prophylaxis against trypanosomosis is necessary. To this end, in this study, we evaluated the efficacy of oral administration of ascofuranone (AF), with and without glycerol (GOL), against trypanosomosis, using a mouse model. We used T. congolense IL3000, the most virulent animal-infecting trypanosome, and BALB/c mice in this study. Eight mice were assigned to either of Groups 1-7: non-infected, untreated, AF 10, 20, 30, 50, and 100 mg/kg with or without GOL, respectively. In the experiment with AF administered with GOL, survival rates were 0% in Group 2 (untreated) and Group 3 (AF 10 mg/kg), 37.5% in Group 4 (AF 20 mg/kg) and Group 5 (AF 30 mg/kg), 50% in Group 6 (AF 50 mg/kg), and 100% in Group 7 (AF 100 mg/kg). In groups in which AF was administered without GOL, survival rates were 0% in Group 2 (untreated), Group 3 (AF 10 mg/kg), Group 4 (AF 20 mg/kg), Group 5 (AF 30 mg/kg), and Group 6 (AF 50 mg/kg), and 12.5% in Group 7 (AF 100 mg/kg), with one mouse surviving till the end of the observation period. The results of the analysis showed that survival rates were significantly higher in all groups (Groups 3-7) than in the untreated group (Group 2) (p < 0.05). Furthermore, a comparison of groups with or without GOL at the same AF concentration revealed that the survival rate was significantly higher in the group treated with GOL. These results suggest that the treatment efficacy of AF against animal trypanosomosis caused by T. congolense is greater when co-administered with GOL, and that oral administration of AF could be a new therapeutic strategy for animal African trypanosomosis.