Assessment of Drug Efficacy of Local Albendazole

Summary

Infections with soil-transmitted helminthes (STH) occur throughout the developing world and remain a major public health problem in the poorest communities. Preventive chemotherapy (PC) programs in which single-dose albendazole 400 mg or single-dose mebendazole 500 mg - the drugs of choice for STH - are administered at the population level, is the main strategy for STH control. To ensure quality, these drugs are being widely donated by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) (albendazole (ALB), Zentel) and Johnson \& Johnson (mebendazole (MEB), Vermox). In addition to this, there are a wide variety of ALB and MEB tablets available on the local market. Although little is known about the quality of anthelmintics sold for human use, several publications have reported variability in the quality of generic anthelmintics used in veterinary medicine. The main objective of the present study is to compare the efficacy of two ALB brands bought on the local market, including OVIS (Korea, DAEHWA pharmaceutical) and BENDEX (India, Cipla)

Timeline

Start

2014-02

Primary completion

2014-04

Completion

2015-02

Publications

• Background Bethony J, Brooker S, Albonico M, Geiger SM, Loukas A, Diemert D, Hotez PJ. Soil-transmitted helminth infections: ascariasis, trichuriasis, and hookworm. Lancet. 2006 May 6;367(9521):1521-32. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68653-4.
• Background Bundy DA, Hall A, Medley GF, Savioli L. Evaluating measures to control intestinal parasitic infections. World Health Stat Q. 1992;45(2-3):168-79.
• Background Crompton DW, Nesheim MC. Nutritional impact of intestinal helminthiasis during the human life cycle. Annu Rev Nutr. 2002;22:35-59. doi: 10.1146/annurev.nutr.22.120501.134539. Epub 2002 Jan 4.
• Background Curtale F, Pokhrel RP, Tilden RL, Higashi G. Intestinal helminths and xerophthalmia in Nepal. A case-control study. J Trop Pediatr. 1995 Dec;41(6):334-7. doi: 10.1093/tropej/41.6.334.
• Background De Clercq D, Sacko M, Behnke J, Gilbert F, Dorny P, Vercruysse J. Failure of mebendazole in treatment of human hookworm infections in the southern region of Mali. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1997 Jul;57(1):25-30. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1997.57.25.
• Background Monteiro AM, Wanyangu SW, Kariuki DP, Bain R, Jackson F, McKellar QA. Pharmaceutical quality of anthelmintics sold in Kenya. Vet Rec. 1998 Apr 11;142(15):396-8. doi: 10.1136/vr.142.15.396.
• Background Nokes C, Bundy DA. Does helminth infection affect mental processing and educational achievement? Parasitol Today. 1994 Jan;10(1):14-8. doi: 10.1016/0169-4758(94)90348-4.
• Background Stephenson LS, Latham MC, Adams EJ, Kinoti SN, Pertet A. Physical fitness, growth and appetite of Kenyan school boys with hookworm, Trichuris trichiura and Ascaris lumbricoides infections are improved four months after a single dose of albendazole. J Nutr. 1993 Jun;123(6):1036-46. doi: 10.1093/jn/123.6.1036.
• Background Stoltzfus RJ, Albonico M, Chwaya HM, Savioli L, Tielsch J, Schulze K, Yip R. Hemoquant determination of hookworm-related blood loss and its role in iron deficiency in African children. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1996 Oct;55(4):399-404. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1996.55.399.
• Background Vercruysse J, Behnke JM, Albonico M, Ame SM, Angebault C, Bethony JM, Engels D, Guillard B, Nguyen TV, Kang G, Kattula D, Kotze AC, McCarthy JS, Mekonnen Z, Montresor A, Periago MV, Sumo L, Tchuente LA, Dang TC, Zeynudin A, Levecke B. Assessment of the anthelmintic efficacy of albendazole in school children in seven countries where soil-transmitted helminths are endemic. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2011 Mar 29;5(3):e948. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000948.

Drugs

Indications