Immunomic Investigation of Holocyclotoxins to Produce the First Protective Anti-Venom Vaccine Against the Australian Paralysis Tick, Ixodes holocyclus.

Venom producing animals are ubiquitously disseminated among vertebrates and invertebrates such as fish, snakes, scorpions, spiders, and ticks. Of the ~890 tick species worldwide, 27 have been confirmed to cause paralysis in mammalian hosts. The Australian paralysis tick (Ixodes holocyclus) is the most potent paralyzing tick species known. It is an indigenous three host tick species that secretes potent neurotoxins known as holocyclotoxins (HTs). Holocyclotoxins cause a severe and harmful toxicosis leading to a rapid flaccid paralysis which can result in death of susceptible hosts such as dogs. Antivenins are generally polyclonal antibody treatments developed in sheep, horses or camels to administer following bites from venomous creatures. Currently, the methods to prevent or treat tick paralysis relies upon chemical acaricide preventative treatments or prompt removal of all ticks attached to the host followed by the administration of a commercial tick-antiserum (TAS) respectively. However, these methods have several drawbacks such as poor efficacies, non-standardized dosages, adverse effects and are expensive to administer. Recently the I. holocyclus tick transcriptome from salivary glands and viscera reported a large family of 19 holocyclotoxins at 38-99% peptide sequence identities. A pilot trial demonstrated that correct folding of holocyclotoxins is needed to induce protection from paralysis. The immunogenicity of the holocyclotoxins were measured using commercial tick antiserum selecting HT2, HT4, HT8 and HT11 for inclusion into the novel cocktail vaccine. A further 4 HTs (HT1, HT12, HT14 and HT17) were added to the cocktail vaccine to ensure that the sequence variation among the HT protein family was encompassed in the formulation. A second trial comparing the cocktail of 8 HTs to a placebo group demonstrated complete protection from tick challenge. Here we report the first successful anti-venom vaccine protecting dogs from tick paralysis.

Efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of 1,2,4-trioxolane OZ78 against an experimental infection with Fasciola hepatica in sheep.

The synthetic peroxide OZ78 is an effective flukicide in the rodent model, but the potential of OZ78 in target animals has not been studied to date. In the present study, OZ78 was administered at 50mg/kg orally and subcutaneously to sheep harbouring an experimental Fasciola hepatica infection and the efficacy, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profiles were monitored. OZ78 given orally or subcutaneously revealed no effect neither on faecal egg counts nor on worm burdens. Apart from significant subcutaneous swelling at the injection sites of most of the treated animals, no other treatment related adverse events occurred. OZ78 had no significant effect on any haematological, coagulation or clinical chemistry variables tested. Following oral administration, a mean C(max) of 45.8±13 µg/ml was reached after 1h. An estimated elimination half-life of 1.0 h and a mean AUC of 116.2±47 µg min/ml was calculated for the oral administration. Following subcutaneous treatment with OZ78 C(max) and t(max) were 13.7±6.1µg/ml and 0.9±0.4h, respectively. The α and ß half-lives were 4.5±4.3 h and 56.5±36 h, respectively and the mean AUC was 219.1±74 µg min/ml. Further studies are needed to determine whether the excellent activity observed with OZ78 in the rat model can be translated into efficacy in larger mammals.

Efficacy of the amino-acetonitrile derivative, monepantel, against experimental and natural adult stage gastro-intestinal nematode infections in sheep.

Multiple drug resistance by nematodes, against anthelmintics has become an important economic problem in sheep farming worldwide. Here we describe the efficacy of monepantel, a developmental molecule from the recently discovered anthelmintic class, the amino-acetonitrile derivatives (AADs). Efficacy was tested against adult stage gastro-intestinal nematodes (GINs) in experimentally and naturally infected sheep at a dose of 2.5mg/kg body weight when administered as an oral solution. Some of the isolates used in experimental infection studies were known to be resistant to the benzimidazoles or levamisole anthelmintics; strains resistant to the macrocyclic lactones were not available for these tests. Worm count-based efficacies of >98% were determined in these studies. As an exception, Oesophagostomum venulosum was only reduced by 88% in one study, albeit with a low worm burden in the untreated controls (geometric mean 15.4 worms). Similar efficacies for monepantel were also confirmed in naturally infected sheep. While the efficacy against most species was >99%, the least susceptible species was identified as Nematodirus spathiger, and although efficacy was 92.4% in one study it was generally >99%. Several animals were infected with Trichuris ovis, which was not eliminated after the treatment. Monepantel demonstrated high activity against a broad range of the important GINs of sheep, which makes this molecule an interesting candidate for use in this species, particularly in regions with problems of anthelmintic resistance. Monepantel was well tolerated by the treated sheep, with no treatment related adverse events documented.