Ivermectin: An Anthelmintic, an Insecticide, and Much More.
Trends Parasitol
; 37(1): 48-64, 2021 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-943553
ABSTRACT
Here we tell the story of ivermectin, describing its anthelmintic and insecticidal actions and recent studies that have sought to reposition ivermectin for the treatment of other diseases that are not caused by helminth and insect parasites. The standard theory of its anthelmintic and insecticidal mode of action is that it is a selective positive allosteric modulator of glutamate-gated chloride channels found in nematodes and insects. At higher concentrations, ivermectin also acts as an allosteric modulator of ion channels found in host central nervous systems. In addition, in tissue culture, at concentrations higher than anthelmintic concentrations, ivermectin shows antiviral, antimalarial, antimetabolic, and anticancer effects. Caution is required before extrapolating from these preliminary repositioning experiments to clinical use, particularly for Covid-19 treatment, because of the high concentrations of ivermectin used in tissue-culture experiments.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Ivermectin
/
Insecticides
/
Anthelmintics
Type of study:
Prognostic study
Limits:
Animals
Language:
English
Journal:
Trends Parasitol
Journal subject:
Parasitology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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