21-May-20

Background
• Parasite (para= close, proximity & site=located)
• A parasite is an organism that lives on or in a host and
gets its food from or at the expense of its host
Antiparasitic drugs • Parasites extract metabolites from their host
organisms in order to accomplish their own life cycle
• Parasitoids are small to tiny animals that search for
Dr Mazhar Ul Haq hosts that are themselves small or tiny animals in a
very complex environment e.g. wasps
• Parasitoids are an important biological tool used
widely in agriculture for the suppression of various
pest species
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Antiparasitics Terms Explained

• Drugs that reduce parasite burden to a tolerable • Helminths (Helmin or Helminthos. Worms)
level either by killing parasites or inhibiting their • 3-major groups of helminths
growth e.g. Levamisole • A) Nematodes Elongated round worms, most numerous
multi-cellular animals on earth. They cause infestation of
• An ideal parasitic drug has intestine as well as blood and tissues e.g. Ascaridia
I. A wide therapeutic index (TI) • B) Cestodes True-tapeworms e.g. Taenia saginita
II. Broad spectrum of activity (Immature, Mature) • C) Trematodes Leaf-shaped Flatworms. Characterized by
the tissues they infest e.g. liver flukes
III. Effective after a single dose
• Vermicide A substance or agent used to kill worms without
IV. Easy to administer necessarily expelling them e.g. Bunamidine
V. Low cost/Inexpensive • Vermifuge Substances help expel the worms and are
usually cathartic agents e.g. Piperazine
VI. Does not leave residues
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Terms
• Anticestodal (Antitapeworm) Drugs that facilitate the
expuslion and /or cause the death of tapeworms e.g.
Niclosamide
• Taeniacide Drugs that cause the death of tapeworm in
situ are referred to as Taeniacide e.g. Dichlorophen
• Taenifuge Compounds that cause or facilitate
tapeworms expulsions
• They interfere with the ability of tapeworms to
maintain their position in the digestive tract my
mucosal attachment of the scolex and by undulation
• Administration of taenifuge is routinely accompanied
by purgation e.g. Triclosan
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Anthelmintics
• Drugs acting against the parasitic worms are known as
anthelmintics e.g. Levamisole
• Anthelmintics act by causing narcosis or paralysis of
the worm, or by damaging the cuticle, leading to
partial digestion or rejection by immune mechanisms
• For effective anthelmintic, a drug must be able to
penetrate the cuticle of the worm or gain access to its
alimentary canal
• Most widely used drugs in veterinary medicine practice
• They also reduce build up of infective worm larvae on
the pasture or on eggs in the environment

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Mechanism of drug transfer

• Action of antiparasitic drug also depends on
ability of the active drug to reach the target in
the parasite
• Predominant pathways Oral + trans-cuticular
/integument diffusion
• Entry and accumulation of drug into parasite
• Lipophilicity
• Buffered space in aqueous space of cuticle
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Anthelmintic Resistance Resistance

• A decrease in efficiency of anthelmintics against a • Rate of resistance depends upon
population of parasites that were originally susceptible
at the same stage a) Parasite genetics
• When there is an apparent poor clinical response to
treatment with anthelmintics b) Treatment frequency
• Resistance is suspected when fecal egg count remains c) Size of refugia
high
• Presence of an increased frequencies of resistance • Refugia is a proportion of parasite population
gene alleles that result by selection through repeated that is not exposed to the drug
use of anthelmintic drugs
• Resistance development is directly related to frequency • Extensively reported in livestock and less in
of de-worming companion animals
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Antinematodal Drugs Antinematodal Drugs

• Drugs that kill or expel the roundworms from
the animals e.g. Levamisole
• Used in the control and treatment of
nematode infestation
• Most widely used drugs in veterinary medicine
• Classified either based on chemical structure
or mode of action
Classes based on chemistry
• A. Benzimidazoles (BZDs) e.g. ABZ, TBZ
• B. Pro-Benzimidazoles (Pro-BZDs) e.g. Netobimin
• C. Imidazothiazoles e.g. Levamisole
• D. Tetrahydropyrimidines e.g. Pyrantel
• E. Organophosphate compounds e.g. Coumaphos
• F. Macrocyclic Lactones e.g. Avermectins
• G. Heterocyclic Compounds e.g. Piperazine
• H. Heartworm Adulticides e.g. Melarsomine

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