Effectiveness of arprinocid in the reduction of cryptosporidial activity in immunosuppressed rats.

Immunosuppressed rats inoculated with Cryptosporidium oocysts isolated from calves' feces were treated with arprinocid, 50 mg/kg of body weight/d. As determined from differences in the mean number of cryptosporidial developmental stages per villus in treated vs control rats, arprinocid had a substantial effect on cryptosporidial activity, which was parasitistatic instead of parasiticidal. Drug-ranging experiments indicated that arprinocid was effective at 50 and 25 mg/kg/d, but not at 12.5 mg/kg/d. These results suggest that further testing of arprinocid in different animal models, or in phase-I clinical trials, is warranted.