Gottstein B, Eperon S, Dai W J, Cannas A, Hemphill A, Greif G
Institute of Parasitology, University of Berne, Switzerland.
Parasitol Res. 2001 Jan;87(1):43-8. doi: 10.1007/s004360000306.
Neosporosis is a disease affecting predominantly fetal development in cattle and dog hosts; and it may cause neuromuscular disfunction in infected newborn calves and pups. Predispositions--including, e.g. transient immunosuppression during pregnancy--may result in an increased dissemination of the parasite within the host or its offspring. Chemotherapeutic treatment of neosporosis may be an issue, provided that an appropriate drug is made available. In this respect, we describe the use of a mouse model for the evaluation of toltrazuril and ponazuril medication as a means of preventing parasite dissemination and subsequent formation of cerebral lesions. Toltrazuril- and ponazuril-treated mice were experimentally infected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 2 x 10(6) Neospora caninum tachyzoites. The infection was monitored at three levels: clinically, by assessing symptoms, histologically, by assessing the occurrence of cerebral lesions and parasites by immunohistochemistry, and on the molecular level, by detection of parasite DNA using PCR. Chemotherapy using either toltrazuril or ponazuril, both applied in a drinking-water formulation (20 mg toltrazuril or ponazuril kg(-1) body weight day(-1)) completely prevented the formation of cerebral lesions in all treated animals, as assessed by immunohistochemistry. PCR analyses of these treated animals showed that DNA-detectability was reduced by 91% and 90% upon toltrazuril and ponazuril medication, respectively.
新孢子虫病是一种主要影响牛和犬宿主胎儿发育的疾病；它可能导致受感染的新生小牛和幼犬出现神经肌肉功能障碍。易患因素——包括例如孕期的短暂免疫抑制——可能导致寄生虫在宿主体内或其后代中的传播增加。如果有合适的药物，新孢子虫病的化疗可能会成为一个问题。在这方面，我们描述了使用小鼠模型来评估托曲珠利和泊那珠利药物治疗，作为预防寄生虫传播和随后形成脑部病变的一种手段。用托曲珠利和泊那珠利治疗的小鼠通过腹腔注射（i.p.）2×10⁶ 个犬新孢子虫速殖子进行实验性感染。从三个层面监测感染情况：临床层面，通过评估症状；组织学层面，通过免疫组织化学评估脑部病变和寄生虫的发生情况；分子层面，通过使用聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测寄生虫DNA。通过免疫组织化学评估，使用托曲珠利或泊那珠利进行化疗（均以饮水制剂形式给药，20毫克托曲珠利或泊那珠利/千克体重/天），在所有治疗的动物中完全预防了脑部病变的形成。对这些治疗动物的PCR分析表明，使用托曲珠利和泊那珠利药物治疗后，DNA检测率分别降低了91%和90%。
