Abstract

Onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis (LF) are human filarial diseases belonging to the group of neglected tropical diseases, leading to permanent and long-term disability in infected individuals in the endemic countries such as Africa and India. Microfilaricidal drugs such as ivermectin and albendazole have been used as the standard therapy in filariasis, although their efficacy in eliminating the diseases is not fully established. Anti-Wolbachia therapy employs antibiotics and is a promising approach showing potent macrofilaricidal activity and also prevents embryogenesis. This has translated to clinical benefits resulting in successful eradication of microfilarial burden, thus averting the risk of adverse events from target species as well as those due to co-infection with loiasis. Doxycycline shows potential as an anti-Wolbachia treatment, leading to the death of adult parasitic worms. It is readily available, cheap and safe to use in adult non-pregnant patients. Besides doxycycline, several other potential antibiotics are also being investigated for the treatment of LF and onchocerciasis. This review aims to discuss and summarise recent developments in the use of anti-Wolbachia drugs to treat onchocerciasis and LF.

Details

Title
Anti-Wolbachia therapy for onchocerciasis & lymphatic filariasis: Current perspectives
Author
Wan Wan Sulaiman 1 ; Joseph Kamtchum-Tatuene 2 ; Mohamed, Mohd 3 ; Vasudevan Ramachandran 4 ; Ching, Siew 5 ; Lim, Sazlyna Sazlly 6 ; Hashim, Hasnur 6 ; Mat, Liyana Inche 1 ; Hoo, Fan 6 ; Basri, Hamidon 1 

 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences; Laboratory of Medical Gerontology, Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 
 Liverpool Brain Infection Group, Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool 
 Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences; Laboratory of Medical Gerontology, Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 
 Laboratory of Medical Gerontology, Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 
 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 
 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Malaysian Research Institute on Ageing, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 
Pages
706-714
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Jun 2019
Publisher
Scientific Scholar
ISSN
0971-5916
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2284907742
Copyright
© 2019. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.