Prescrire Int. 2000 Oct;9(49):139-42.
Albendazole: new indication. Useful adjunct in hydatid disease.

[No authors listed]

(1) Albendazole, an antiparasitic drug belonging to the benzimidazoles, is indicated in France for the treatment of hydatid disease and alveolar echinococcosis. (2) According to non comparative data and a small comparative trial, albendazole is helpful when surgical removal and percutaneous drainage of a hydatid cyst are impossible. The best ways to use this treatment are not, however, known. One comparative trial showed the value of albendazole before surgery. Two other comparative trials showed the benefit of combining albendazole with percutaneous drainage, an approach that can replace surgical excision. (3) In the absence of comparative trials we do not know if the prognostic improvement seen in alveolar echinococcosis in recent years can be ascribed to albendazole. (4) Transaminase activity and blood cell counts should be checked regularly (there may be a small risk of neutropenia).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11603413&dopt=Abstract albendazole Albenza




Hepatogastroenterology. 2001 Sep-Oct;48(41):1467-70.
Prospects in medical management of Echinococcus granulosus.

Yasawy MI, Alkarawi MA, Mohammed AR.

Department of Gastroenterology, Armed forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Both benzimidazoles (albendazole) and isoquineline compounds (praziquantel) have activity against. We reviewed the efficiency of benzimidazole and isoquineline in the management of hepatic Echinococcus in our clinical cases and the other laboratory and animal studies. Until recently, surgery was the only treatment of choice. Albendazole introduction and its early results were exciting. In 1985, a favorable outcome of a combination of albendazole and praziquantel was described and lately indications for pre- and postoperative prophylactic usage has been established. Both drugs in animal and laboratory studies by different authors and our own clinical experiences were reviewed and the effectiveness for both therapeutic and prophylaxis purposes were studied. Albendazole in the treatment of Echinococcus granulosus is shown to be superior to other benzimidazoles and a combination of albendazole and praziquantel is more effective than albendazole alone. Albendazole therapy is associated with a 50% disappearance of cysts and in others has caused shrinkage, cyst wall and interacystic changes. Pre- and postoperative prophylactic therapy is effective and side effects with regular follow-up and evaluation are not serious. Long-term follow-up showed a 30% recurrence rate, whereas, in contrast, combination therapy required a shorter period of therapy but long-term outcome and recurrence are still to be evaluated. In conclusion chemotherapy is an essential part of management. Combination therapy is more effective and requires a shorter period of treatment than albendazole alone. Pre- and postoperative prophylactic therapy reduce risk of spillage and dissemination during surgery and percutaneous aspiration. Chemotherapy failure could be due to a number of factors such as pharmacokinetics and que




Folia Parasitol (Praha). 2001;48(3):192-200.
Growth of Trachipleistophora hominis (Microsporidia: Pleistophoridae) in C2,C12 mouse myoblast cells and response to treatment with albendazole.

Lafranchi-Tristem NJ, Curry A, Cheney SA, Canning EU.

Department of Biology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, UK.

The microsporidium Trachipleistophora hominis Hollister, Canning, Weidner, Field, Kench et Marriott, 1996, originally isolated from human skeletal muscle cells, inhibited myotube formation from myoblasts when grown in a mouse myoblast cell line C2,C12. Uninfected cultures readily converted to myotubes. Albendazole, a drug with known antimicrosporidial activity, was tested against T. hominis in C2,C12 cells. The drug was added when infection had reached 75% of C2,C12 cells, a level comparable to that obtained in heavily infected muscle in vivo. Doses of 1 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml had no effect on merogony or sporogony. In cultures exposed to 100 ng/ml albendazole, the C2,C12 cells remained in good condition while infection levels dropped to 25% over 7 weeks. Drug doses of 500 ng/ml and 1,000 ng/ml were deleterious to the host cells but some spores retained viability and were able to establish new infections once albendazole pressure was removed. T. hominis meronts exposed to 100 ng/ml albendazole mostly lacked the normally thick surface coat and its reticulate extensions. Meronts were not seen in cultures exposed to higher drug doses. Albendazole at a concentration of 100 ng/ml and higher had a profound effect on spore morphogenesis. There was erratic coiling of the polar tube, often involving the formation of double tubes, and chaotic disposition of membranes which could have been those of polaroplast. The in vitro susceptibility of T. hominis to albendazole was low in comparison with in vitro susceptibility of other microsporidia of human origin.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11699654&dopt=Abstract albendazole Albenza




J Pharm Pharm Sci. 2001 Sep-Dec;4(3):235-43.
Guar gum as a carrier for colon specific delivery; influence of metronidazole and tinidazole on in vitro release of albendazole from guar gum matrix tablets.

Krishnaiah YS, Seetha Devi A, Nageswara Rao L, Bhaskar Reddy PR, Karthikeyan RS, Satyanarayana V.

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, India. krishnaysr11ediffmail.com

PURPOSE: The present investigation is to study the influence of metronidazole and tinidazole on the usefulness of guar gum, a colon-specific drug carrier based on the metabolic activity of colonic bacteria, using matrix tablets of albendazole (containing 20% of guar gum) as a model formulation. METHODS: The matrix tablets of albendazole were subjected to in vitro drug release studies in simulated colonic fluids (4%w/v of rat caecal contents) obtained after oral treatment of rats for 7 days either with varying doses of metronidazole/ tinidazole and 1 mL of 2%w/v of guar gum or with 1 mL of 2%w/v of guar gum alone (control study) after completing the dissolution study in 0.1 M HCl (2 h) and pH 7.4 Sorensen's phosphate buffer (3 h). RESULTS: The guar gum matrix tablets of albendazole were found degraded by colonic bacteria of rat caecal contents and released about 44% of albendazole in simulated colonic fluids (control study) at the end of 24 h indicating the susceptibility of the guar gum formulations to the rat caecal contents. However, the release of albendazole decreased when the drug release studies were carried out in caecal contents of rats treated for 7 days with either metronidazole (10-50 mg/ kg once daily) or tinidazole (10-30 mg/ kg once daily), and the release of albendazole from the matrix tablets was found to be dose dependent. The release of the drug from guar gum formulations was found to increase with a decrease in the dose of metronidazole/tinidazole administered. The antimicrobial activity of metronidazole/ tinidazole against the anaerobic bacteria of the rat"s GI flora m




Chin Med J (Engl). 2000 Sep;113(9):827-32.
Continuous long-term albendazole therapy in intraabdominal cystic echinococcosis.

Liu Y, Wang X, Wu J.

Institute of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Chongqing University of Medical Sciences, Chongqing 400016, China.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the therapeutic effects of long-term albendazole therapy in intraabdominal cystic echinococcosis. METHODS: Fifteen patients with a total of 45 cysts were treated with albendazole with dosage regimen of 20 mg.kg-1.d-1 for an average of 2.5 years. Repeated CT and ultrasound scannings (US) were performed after the end of therapy. The duration of follow-up was 3.6 years on average. The number, size and morphology of cysts were compared before and after treatment. RESULTS: The hydatid cysts were classified according to location and CT patterns into hepatic simple cysts, hepatic cysts with daughter cysts, hepatic/abdominal cysts and splenic cysts. The hepatic simple cysts responded most favorably to albendazole therapy, with an overall cure rate of 88.7%. The disappearance of cysts was observed in 43.0% of cases (15/35). Sixteen cysts (45.7%) became solidified or calcified, among which 8 cysts were completely calcified, 6 showed egg shell-like calcification of the cystic walls, and 2 showed solidification and calcification of cyst contents. Four patients had large hepatic cysts containing daughter cysts; the daughter cysts all disappeared after treatment, but one patient relapsed with the reappearance of daughter cysts at 4-year follow-up. Two splenic cysts also calcified. Two patients had peritoneal cysts; one calcified and the other one reduced in size. Among 15 patients treated, 9 were cured and 6 were improved. There was no serious toxic reactions with continuous long-term therapy in a small series of patients. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous long-term albendazole treatment of intraabdominal cystic echinococcosis is safe and effective in the treatment of hepatic simple cysts, and some daughter cysts, peritoneal secondary cysts




J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2002 Nov 7;30(4):1249-54.
A high performance liquid chromatography method for simultaneous determination of albendazole metabolites in human serum.

Mirfazaelian A, Dadashzadeh S, Rouini MR.

Biopharmaceutics Laboratory, Division of Pharmacokinetics, Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

A simple assay for albendazole (ABZ) main metabolites-albendazole sulphoxide (ABZ-SO), albendazole sulphone (ABZ-SO(2)) and albendazole amino sulphone (ABZ-SO(2)-NH(2))-in serum using high performance liquid chromatography was developed. The method involves liquid-liquid extraction of the serum by ethyl acetate, clean up with n-hexane and re-extraction with ethyl acetate, followed by separation on RP-C(8) column with a mixture of methanol: acetonitrile: acetic acid: water (40:1:10:49) as the eluting solvent. ABZ-SO and mebendazole-used as internal standard-were detected by UV (lambda=286 nm), and ABZ-SO(2) and ABZ-SO(2)-NH(2) with fluorescence spectrophotometer at (Excitation=286 nm, Emission=333 nm) and (Excitation=286 nm, Emission=315 nm), respectively. The assay was accurate and reproducible with a detection limit of 10 ng/ml for ABZ-SO, 2 ng/ml for ABZ-SO(2) and 4 ng/ml for ABZ-SO(2)-NH(2). Disregarding ABZ determination, which is not of pharmacokinetic importance as it is not found in human plasma after oral administration, the proposed method is appropriate for further pharmacokinetic and metabolism study of this drug.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12408915&dopt=Abstract albendazole Albenza




Neurol India. 2001 Dec;49(4):329-37.
Medical management of neurocysticercosis.

Garg RK.

Department of Neurology, King George's Medical College, Lucknow-226003, India. garg5ahoo.com

Neurocysticercosis is the most common parasitic disease of the central nervous system. Praziquantel and albendazole, the two antiparasitic drugs, have been reported to be effective against cysticercosis. Both the drugs effectively destroy the cerebral parenchymal cystic lesions. However, albendazole is possibly more effective in subarachnoidal, ventricular and spinal forms of cysticercosis, and frequently obviates the need for surgery. Initially, longer courses of albendazole and praziquantel had been advocated. Now even shorter treatment regimens are found equally effective. Complete course of praziquantel therapy can be administered in a single day with comparable efficacy instead of conventional treatment of 15 days. Similarly, one week therapy of albendazole is as effective as 30 days' treatment regimen. Recently, there is an intense debate whether anticysticercal treatment is useful and safe. Opponents of anticysticercal therapy argue that effectiveness of therapy is possibly a reflection of natural course of the disease. It has been observed that even if cysticercal lesions are left untreated, they either disappear spontaneously or calcify. Anticysticercal therapy is potentially risky, it may aggravate cerebral oedema, and may produce vasculitis and stroke, and several deaths have also been reported. To minimise these risks, concomitant corticosteroids should be administered especially, if there is a massive parasitic load. It is better to avoid anticysticercal treatment in patients with cysticercotic encephalitis. Doubts have been expressed that anticysticercal therapy really affects ultimate long-term clinical outcomes (e.g. control of seizure and possibility of seizure free state after discontinuation of antiepileptic drugs). So far, definite evidences in this regard, based on finding of well plann