Targeting of Wolbachia endobacteria in Litomosoides sigmodontis: comparison of tetracyclines with chloramphenicol, macrolides and ciprofloxacin

Summary Endobacteria of the genus Wolbachia in filarial nematodes are related to Rickettsiaceae and can be depleted by tetracycline antibiotics. This depletion blocks female worm development as well as early embryogenesis, in contrast to the currently used microfilaricidal ivermectin which blocks on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tropical medicine & international health 2000-04, Vol.5 (4), p.275-279
Main Authors: Hoerauf, Achim, Volkmann, Lars, Nissen‐Paehle, Kerstin, Schmetz, Christel, Autenrieth, Ingo, Büttner, Dietrich W., Fleischer, Bernhard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents - blood
Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use
Biological and medical sciences
chloramphenicol
Chloramphenicol - blood
Chloramphenicol - therapeutic use
Ciprofloxacin - blood
Ciprofloxacin - therapeutic use
DNA, Bacterial - isolation & purification
endobacteria
Experimental helminthic diseases. Models
Female
filariasis
Filariasis - drug therapy
Filarioidea - growth & development
Filarioidea - microbiology
Helminthic diseases
Infectious diseases
Injections, Intraperitoneal
Litomosoides sigmodontis
Macrolides
macrolids
Medical sciences
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Parasitic diseases
Polymerase Chain Reaction
tetracycline
Tetracycline - blood
Tetracycline - therapeutic use
Tropical medicine
Wolbachia
Wolbachia - drug effects
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Summary:Summary Endobacteria of the genus Wolbachia in filarial nematodes are related to Rickettsiaceae and can be depleted by tetracycline antibiotics. This depletion blocks female worm development as well as early embryogenesis, in contrast to the currently used microfilaricidal ivermectin which blocks only the last stage of embryogenesis. Since targeting Wolbachia is becoming an area of research for the treatment of human filariases, it was investigated if antibiotics other than tetracyclines are able to deplete Wolbachia from filariae. BALB/c mice infected with the rodent filaria Litomosoides sigmodontis were treated with erythromycin, chloramphenicol or ciprofloxacin. All drugs were well resorbed and resulted in serum levels clearly above breakpoint levels for bacteria susceptible to the respective antibiotic. However, contrary to tetracycline, none of these antibiotics depleted Wolbachia or altered worm development and fertility, as evidenced by immunohistology, immunoelectron microscopy and semiquantitative PCR.
ISSN:1360-2276
1365-3156
DOI:10.1046/j.1365-3156.2000.00544.x