Brugia malayi is one of the causative agents of the disabling and disfiguring disease known as Lymphatic Filariasis (LF). This infection is a well-established ailment in tropical and subtropical countries and recently the drug ivermectin has been introduced for the LF control programs. Ivermectin (IVM) is an excellent microfilaricide, but is not markedly macrofilaricidal. However, it causes a long-lasting reduction in the production of new larvae by female worms, suggesting that adult stages are affected. However, the mechanism by which IVM produces such effect in the adult worm is not well understood. One major reason is our incomplete understanding about the biological effect of IVM on adult stages. The present study was carried out to examine the in vitro effects of IVM on B. malayi adult worms using Brugia-gerbil animal model. And also to have some leads in understanding the drug-uptake and location of probable targets in the worm body by using fluorescent labeled IVM and confocal microscopy. / The antifilarial effects of IVM were examined using three parameters: mf release by female worms, and motility, and viability in both male and female worms. The results reported in this study demonstrate that although IVM did not kill the adult worm, but showed significant antifilarial effects on B. malayi adult stages when examined in an in vitro system. Confocal microscopy images of the worms incubated in bodipy FITC-IVM showed strong specific localization signal in the anterior cephalic region of both male and female worms. These observations suggest the early/initial interactions of the drug with its probable receptors that could be located specifically in the head region.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.100768 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Bhatnagar, Barkha. |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Institute of Parasitology.) |
| Rights | © Barkha Bhatnagar, 2006 |
| Relation | alephsysno: 002590600, proquestno: AAIMR32664, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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