1.Enhanced efficacy of sequential administration of Albendazole for the clearance of Wuchereria bancrofti infection: Double blind RCT
De Britto, R.L.J. ; Vanamail, P. ; Sankari, T. ; Vijayalakshmi, G. ; Das, L.K. ; Pani, S.P.
Tropical Biomedicine 2015;32(2):198-209
Till today, there is no effective treatment protocol for the complete clearance of
Wuchereria bancrofti (W.b) infection that causes secondary lymphoedema. In a double blind
randomized control trial (RCT), 146 asymptomatic W. b infected individuals were randomly
assigned to one of the four regimens for 12 days, DEC 300 mg + Doxycycline 100 mg coadministration
or DEC 300 mg + Albendazole 400 mg co-administration or DEC 300 mg +
Albendazole 400 mg sequential administration or control regimen DEC 300 mg and were
followed up at 13, 26 and 52 weeks post-treatment for the clearance of infection. At intake,
there was no significant variation in mf counts (F(3,137)=0.044; P=0.988) and antigen levels
(F(3,137)=1.433; P=0.236) between the regimens. Primary outcome analysis showed that
DEC + Albendazole sequential administration has an enhanced efficacy over DEC + Albendazole
co-administration (80.6 Vs 64.7%), and this regimen is significantly different when compared
to DEC + doxycycline co-administration and control (P<0.05), in clearing microfilaria in 13
weeks. Secondary outcome analysis showed that, all the trial regimens were comparable to
control regimen in clearing antigen (F(3, 109)=0.405; P=0.750). Therefore, DEC + Albendazole
sequential administration appears to be a better option for rapid clearance of W. b microfilariae
in 13 weeks time. (Clinical trials.gov identifier – NCT02005653)