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. 2024 Feb 8;91(1):e1-e6.
doi: 10.4102/ojvr.v91i1.2115.

Ascofuranone antibiotic is a promising trypanocidal drug for nagana

Keisuke Suganuma  1 , Kennedy M Mochabo, Judith K Chemuliti, Kita Kiyoshi, Inoue Noboru, Shin-Ichiro Kawazu
Affiliations

Ascofuranone antibiotic is a promising trypanocidal drug for nagana

Keisuke Suganuma et al. Onderstepoort J Vet Res. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Trypanosomosis is a disease complex which affects both humans and animals in sub-Saharan Africa, transmitted by the tsetse fly and distributed within the tsetse belt of Africa. But some trypanosome species, for example, Trypanosoma brucei evansi, T. vivax, T. theileri and T. b. equiperdum are endemic outside the tsetse belt of Africa transmitted by biting flies, for example, Tabanus and Stomoxys, or venereal transmission, respectively. Trypanocidal drugs remain the principal method of animal trypanosomosis control in most African countries. However, there is a growing concern that their effectiveness may be severely curtailed by widespread drug resistance. A minimum number of six male cattle calves were recruited for the study. They were randomly grouped into two (T. vivax and T. congolense groups) of three calves each. One calf per group served as a control while two calves were treatment group. They were inoculated with 105 cells/mL parasites in phosphate buffered solution (PBS) in 2 mL. When parasitaemia reached 1 × 107.8 cells/mL trypanosomes per mL in calves, treatment was instituted with 20 mL (25 mg/kg in 100 kg calf) ascofuranone (AF) for treatment calves, while the control ones were administered a placebo (20 mL PBS) intramuscularly. This study revealed that T. vivax was successfully cleared by AF but the T. congolense group was not cleared effectively.Contribution: There is an urgent need to develop new drugs which this study sought to address. It is suggested that the AF compound can be developed further to be a sanative drug for T. vivax in non-tsetse infested areas like South Americas.

Keywords: Trypanosoma congolense; Trypanosoma vivax; antibiotic; ascofuranone; trypanocide.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or personal relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them in writing this article.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Ascofuranone structure, 2023.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Parasitaemia of T. vivax infection trends. Ascofuranone treatment, day 6th to 12th in calves Tv1 and Tv2. Day 12, diminazene aceturate treatment in control calf Tv3, 2023.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The mean weights of the Tv1 and Tv2 (treatment), and Tv3 (control), ascofuranone treatment period day 6th to 12th, 2023.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Percent packed cell volume profiles in the Tv group calves. Tv1 (Treatment), Tv2 (Treatment) and Tv3 (control). Treatment with ascofuranone started on day 6 and ended on day 12, 2023.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Percent packed cell volume profiles in the Tc group calves. Tc1 (Treatment), Tc2 (Treatment) and Tc3 (control). Treatment with Ascofuranone started on day 9 and ended on day 15, 2023.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Parasitaemia T. congolense infection trends in Tc1 and Tc2 (treatment), Tc3 (control). Ascofuranone treatment, day 9 to day 15, 2023.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
The mean weights of the Tc1 and Tc2 (treatment group), and Tc3 (control group), 2023.
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