Development of an in vitro bioassay for measuring susceptibility to macrocyclic lactone anthelmintics in Dirofilaria immitis.

ABSTRACT: For more than 20 years, anthelmintics of the macrocyclic lactone (ML) drug class have been widely and effectively used as preventives against the canine heartworm, Dirofilaria immitis. However, in recent years an increased number of lack of efficacy (LOE) cases are being reported, in which dogs develop mature heartworm infections despite receiving monthly prophylactic doses of ML drugs. While this situation is raising concerns that heartworms may be developing resistance to MLs, compelling evidence for this is still lacking. Resolution of this dilemma requires validated biological or molecular diagnostic assays, but, unfortunately, no such tests currently exist. To address this need, we developed and optimized a larval migration inhibition assay (LMIA) for use with D. immitis third-stage l

SUBMITTER: Evans CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3862408 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature