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Monepantel: the most studied new anthelmintic drug of recent years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2014

L. LECOVÁ ,
L. STUCHLÍKOVÁ ,
L. PRCHAL  and
L. SKÁLOVÁ
L. LECOVÁ*
Affiliation:
Department of biochemical sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University in Prague, Heyrovského 1203, 500 05, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
L. STUCHLÍKOVÁ
Affiliation:
Department of biochemical sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University in Prague, Heyrovského 1203, 500 05, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
L. PRCHAL
Affiliation:
Department of biochemical sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University in Prague, Heyrovského 1203, 500 05, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
L. SKÁLOVÁ
Affiliation:
Department of biochemical sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Charles University in Prague, Heyrovského 1203, 500 05, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
*
* Corresponding author. Department of Biochemical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University in Prague, Heyrovského 1203, 500 05 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. E-mail: lecoval@faf.cuni.cz
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Summary

Monepantel (MOP), a new anthelmintic drug from a group of amino-acetonitrile derivatives, has been intensively studied during last years. Many authors examined this new drug from different perspectives, e.g. efficacy against different species and stages of parasites, mode of action, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, resistance, ecotoxicity, etc. MOP is an anthelmintic for livestock (currently only sheep and goats), with molecular mode of action which is different to all other anthelmintics. MOP has a broad-spectrum of activity against gastrointestinal nematodes of sheep, including adults and L4 larvae of the most important species. The key feature of MOP is its full effectiveness against strains of nematodes resistant to benzimidazoles, levamisole, macrocyclic lactones and closantel. After oral administration, MOP is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and quickly metabolized to MOP sulfone that has a similar efficacy as the parent molecule. Several other MOP metabolites formed in ovine hepatocytes were described. MOP and its metabolites are considered to be non-toxic to environment and its components, such as soil microflora, aquatic organisms, dung organisms, vegetation, etc. The aim of the presented review was not to collect all reported data but to bring an overview of various approaches in the study of MOP and to evaluate their principal results.

Keywords

anthelminticamino-acetonitrile derivativesmonepantelHaemonchus contortusgastrointestinal nematodes

Information

Type
Review Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 141 , Issue 13 , November 2014 , pp. 1686 - 1698
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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