Field clinical study evaluating the efficacy and safety of an oral formulation containing milbemycin oxime/praziquantel (Milbemax®, Novartis Animal Health) in the chemoprevention of the zoonotic canine infection by Dirofilaria repens

Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Donato Traversa⁴  Stefania Avolio⁶  Federico Pandolfi⁵  Jason Drake¹  Silvana Meloni⁴  Francesco La Torre³  Roberto Bartolini⁴  Vincenzo Aquilino⁴  Barbara Paoletti⁴  Emanuela Di Giulio⁶  Gabriele Braun²  Angela Di Cesare⁴ 

[1] Novartis Animal Health, 3200 Northline Ave., Suite 300, Greensboro, NC 27408, USA;Klifovet AG, Munich, Geyerspergerstrasse 27, 80689 Munich, Germany;Novartis Animal Health S.p.A., Largo Umberto Boccioni 1, Origgio 21040, Varese, Italy;Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Teramo, Piazza A. Moro, 45, 64100 Teramo, Italy;Canile Federico I°, Via San Giovanni 12/A, 60010 Ostra Vetere Ancona, Italy;Veterinary Practice James Herriot, Via Nazionale 2/g, 64026, Roseto degli Abruzzi Teramo, Italy

关键词: Italy;    Dog;    Prevention;    Milbemycin oxime;    Dirofilaria repens;   

Others  :  1181889
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-3305-7-347

 received in 2014-05-15, accepted in 2014-07-18,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Dirofilaria repens is the causative agent of subcutaneous dirofilariosis of dogs, other animals and humans. This nematode is transmitted by mosquitoes of Aedes, Anopheles and Culex genera. In dogs, the parasite may cause subclinical infection or cutaneous signs. Recently, D. repens has emerged and spread in different geographical areas, with an increase of cases in dogs and humans. Chemoprevention in dogs in endemic areas is the most reliable approach for controlling this infection. This paper describes a randomized, blocked and multicentric clinical field study investigating the efficacy of an oral, chewable formulation containing milbemycin oxime/praziquantel (Milbemax®, Novartis Animal Health) in the chemoprevention of subcutaneous dirofilariosis in dogs.

Methods

This study was conducted in endemic areas of Italy. A total of 249 dogs, at two sites, negative for D. repens, were allocated into two groups (i.e. Treated -T1 vs Untreated-T2) with a ratio of 1:1, and subjected to clinical visits and blood sampling once monthly until the end of the study. All blood samples were microscopically and genetically examined. Animals belonging to T1 group received a minimum target dose of 0.5 mg/kg bodyweight of milbemycin oxime and 5 mg/kg of praziquantel in commercial tablets (Milbemax®) according body weight once every 4 weeks. Animals of group T2 were not treated with Milbemax® but received, when necessary, specific parasiticide treatments. The study duration was 336 ± 2 days for each dog.

Results

A total of 219 dogs completed the study (i.e. 111 in T1 and 108 in T2), while 30 dogs (i.e. 13 in T1, 17 in T2) were withdrawn for a variety of reasons unrelated to administration of Milbemax®. The percentages of animals not showing microfilariae of D. repens were 100% (111 animals) in T1 and 94.7% (108 animals out of 114) in group T2. Milbemax® was shown to be safe in treated dogs.

Conclusions

The results of this study confirm that the monthly use of Milbemax® in dogs is effective and safe for the prevention of subcutaneous dirofilariosis in endemic areas.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Di Cesare et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

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