Perioperative Prophylactic Chemotherapy of Echinococcus granulosus: Determination of Minimum Effective Length of Albendazole Therapy in In Vitro Protoscolex Culture

Abstract

Protoscoleces of Echinococcus granulosus were cultured in vitro in 500, 250 or 100 μg/1 albendazole sulphoxide for 1, 3, 7, 10, 14d and then ‘recued’ (R) into drug-free medium for the remainder ofthe culture period. Successful minimum lengths of therapy were much longer than for praziquantel, and only at 500μg/1 was the 10dR treatment as effective as continuous therapy for 28d. Treatment with 100 μg/1 both in continuous culture and in the ‘R’ experiments was ineffective over a 35d period. The results are compared with those from similar experiments using praziquantel.